POLICE and diplomats are concerned about a beautiful Russian model who went missing after taking a "bar" job in Bahrain.

Maria Sazonova, 21, want to work in the Middle East apparently telling her mum she wanted to earn money as a bar girl for a new iPhone.

4 Maria Sazonova's good looks have landed her modelling jobs in the past Credit: Will Stewart

4 Everyone thought she was working in a bar - but it turns out there's more to it than that Credit: Will Stewart

But pals say her real job was as an "administrator in a striptease bar".

The Kremlin's ambassador Vagif Garaev said: "We are investigating the circumstances around the missing Russian girl."

Her disappearance follows concern in Russian and Ukraine over women being trapped into underground sex industry jobs in countries in the Persian Gulf.

Frantic mum Irina said: "Maria turned 21 just three days before her trip.

"She went to Bahrain to earn some money, she wanted to buy a new iPhone.

"I asked her about the job and how people treated her, and she said all was fine.”

4 Maria's mother Irina Sazonova thought her daughter was working abroad so she could buy a new smart phone Credit: Will Stewart

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But a week ago Maria stopped answering calls and text messages.

She is also absent from her social media accounts and her mobile is dead.

A friend told Russian news outlet Life.ru that the sociology student from Yekaterinburg - who worked as a part-time model - was telling her mum the truth about her job.

4 Nobody has heard from Maria Sazonova for weeks Credit: Will Stewart

"Maria never worked as a bar girl. She got a job of an administrator in a striptease club," said the anonymous friend.

Her mother said she was last seen at Bahrain airport on 3 March, with a friend called Viktoria, but it is not clear if they were flying out of the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Irina said: "It never happened before that Maria went missing for such a long time."

Her mother said she was "very active, social, brave, she can take care of herself".

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