A 28-year-old mother of three from St. Petersburg has been crowned the winner of "Mrs. World," an international beauty pageant for married women that took place in Ecuador this year, Russian media reported.
Yulia Ionina, a businesswoman who also runs a charity, said after winning the contest on Saturday that the victory was a "big accomplishment for myself and, in general, for participants from Russia," state news agency ITAR-Tass reported.
Ionina said that tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis did not cast a shadow over the contest and that the reception she got from other contestants and organizers was "better than good."
"There were no negative feelings," Ionina, who is also working on her second college degree in law, told the news agency. Russian women previously won the pageant in 2006 and 2009, according to its website.
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