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The so-called 'Iron Princess of Crimea' Natalia Poklonskaya who went viral after she became an anime sex symbol has been tipped as the new Vladimir Putin.

The 36-year-old chief prosecutor has announced she will be running for a seat in Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of the country’s parliament.

Poklonskaya hopes to enter the Kremlin on the ticket of United Russia, a centrist, pro-Putin party.

She is soften referred to as a potential candidate for the 2018 presidential elections and is listed in Forbes' list of most promising politicians.

(Image: Getty)

Poklonskaya became Crimea’s chief prosecutor at the age of just 33, very soon after the republic seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation in 2014.

She was threatened with arrest by Kiev and Ukrainian nationalists reportedly even plotted to assassinate her.

In an interview she gave to the Voice of Russia, she branded the Ukraine authorities in Kiev as “devils from the ashes” and made it clear she supported Crimea's new-found independence.

(Image: Getty)

She went viral in a matter of minutes after her first press conference.

A video from the event - all in Russian - was retweeted 10,000 almost as soon as it aired.

One admirer posted "All Hail The Queen" and 'anime-style' art drawings of her began flooding websites.

One video, in which Poklonskaya listens to a reporter's question, was viewed nearly 300,000 times since it was posted to a Japanese YouTube channel – despite no translation of her answer being provided.

Reams of manga image and anime fan art inspired by her then emerged.