The The Times of London was quoted on Gymblog:
VLADIMIR PUTIN has resorted to an age-old trick to capture the voters’ imagination: sexing up the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, with an array of glamorous new female recruits.
Ahead of this month’s rigged parliamentary elections, Putin was reported to have complained that there were not enough beautiful women in his United Russia party. The error was soon corrected with a platform of stunning ladies, including four former athletes who have starred in topless photoshoots and Svetlana Zakharova, the elegant principal ballerina of the Bolshoi.
This just goes to show Putin can get away with anything. He’s like an aging Hugh Hefner. With nuclear weapons.
Former Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva is one of the harem, as well.
Khorkina, now 28, has faced media controversy before. She posed for Russian Playboy after winning the world all-around title in 1997.
I don’t know whether to condemn her brazenness. Or admire her gutsy confidence.
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