Russia is just participating in Miss Universe this weekend: organization and candidate get wind from the front

Notable candidate at the Miss Universe pageant that will take place on Saturday in the American city of New Orleans: Miss Russia Anna Linnikova (22) will share the stage with dozens of other beauties from all over the world, including Miss Ukraine Viktoriia Apanasenko (28). They were seen for the first time yesterday. And both the organization and Miss Russia immediately received wind on the pageant’s official social media channels.

The video in which Miss Ukraine showed herself in national outfit on Thursday has already been viewed more than a million times on Twitter. She did the best she could with that. She was seen in a white robe, with wings open like an angel and a great sword. The tweet received hundreds of favorable comments from users who wished her well. “A new day to conquer”, it sounded, among other things.

The contrast could not be greater with the passage of Miss Russia. She was dressed in a rich red robe with Swarovski stones, reminiscent of the time of the tsars. It was called “The Crown of the Russian Empire”. Anna Linnikova immediately received a lot of criticism on the official Miss Universe Twitter page and was called, among other things, “Miss Genocide”.

There was also a lot of misunderstanding for the organization. “How is it possible that Russia is allowed to participate?”, it sounded in disbelief. “This is surreal”, “Is this a joke?”, “This disgusts me” and even “The red symbolizes the blood of the Ukrainians that the Russians shed.”

CEO Amy Emmerich of the Miss Universe Organization said earlier that she expected the criticism. “Miss Universe tries to be apolitical,” she told American magazine Variety. “At the same time, we believe in creating a platform where the voice of the contestants can be heard, however loud it may believe in it. I didn’t feel like we should hold Miss Russia responsible for something she has no control over. So that’s why we said yes.”

Also noteworthy: according to the British magazine ‘The Mirror’, the United States would have granted Miss Russia a visa after she had traveled to the American embassy in Kazakhstan to submit an application. Russia supporters react enthusiastically that Russia succeeded in circumventing the sanctions.

Swap place

The ladies would have done everything in the run-up to the election not to run into each other in New Orleans. For example, images are doing the rounds showing how Miss Colombia is asked to switch places with Miss Ukraine, so that she is further away from Miss Russia. The latter had only joined the group that was being photographed at the very last moment.

Miss Ukraine has already made it clear that she will not keep her mouth shut and that she is aware of “her responsibility to be an ambassador of Ukraine”. Hence also her angelic dress that listened to the name “Warrior of the Light”. According to her, it symbolizes “our nation’s struggle against the darkness” and “like the archangel Michael, it protects everyone who defends Ukraine like a sword”.

Miss Russia was less talkative when asked in an interview what she thought of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “My attitude is as positive as possible,” she said simply.

Russia wants to use Ukrainian children from occupied territories as cannon fodder

That’s how hard Russians were pushed to take Soledar: “It’s a nightmare. The losses for such a small piece of the front are immense.”