AT first glance they look like two beautiful young women exchanging vows in a gay marriage.

In fact, Alina Davis, 23 and Alison Brooks, 19, are man and wife, a heterosexual couple who tied the knot in controversial circumstances last week in Russia.

Davis, whose real name is Dmitry Kozhukhov, identifies “as a guy” and is strongly attracted to women but feels more comfortable dressing as a female, describing himself as “androgyne”.

Their union in a Moscow registry office almost didn’t happen because of the country’s conservative marriage laws but since theirs was a heterosexual relationship, there was nothing authorities could do.

“In May, we filled in the application at the registry office, and our appearance did not cause any questions at all, which surprised us,” Davis said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

“But just a couple of weeks before the wedding they started to call us. When they could not reach us, they called my mother.”

Davis said the staff were “outraged” when he and Brooks both turned up as brides — in identical dresses — but hoped the event would send a positive message to other Russians in unconventional relationships.

“I have written to couples who are planning similar marriages and are afraid of failures with registration: ‘Be aware, you cannot be refused’,” he told The Post.

“I believe that we have created an important precedent for such a wedding in Russia, for we are not alone in having such problems.”

His new wife, who uses Alison Brooks as an alias and goes by the name “Alisa”, said she was deeply in love with Davis and hoped they would have “at least two children together”.

Bowled over by Davis’ beauty, it was Alisa who made the first move. She said she was aware he was a man from the start.

“I came up to her and said she is very beautiful,” she said.

Davis added: “I’m a guy with normal orientation and, accordingly, I like women’s beauty. And it should be clear my desire, to some extent, is to conform to my ideal. After all, girls are the fairer sex. They are beautiful. So if a guy looks like a girl — it’s wonderful.

“And it has nothing to do with being homosexual. Ideally, the person will be combined with both male and female features. And this is the highest level of personal development.”