Ex-Russian spy Anna Chapman moves into politics
- 13 years ago
Ex-Russian spy Anna Chapman has made her debut on the political stage.
The flame-haired 28-year-old was announced the leader of the "Molodaya Gvardia" or Young Guards, the youth wing of prime minister Vladimir Putin's ruling party.
The announcement was made at a northern Moscow exhibition centre, where party members enjoyed a disco-like setting to celebrate the end of their thee-day convention.
Chapman, wearing a red dress with long black velvet sleeves, took to the stage and spoke briefly to hundreds of party members.
Molodaya Gvardia, which is the youth party that leads into the ruling party United Russia, is comprised of members aged 18 to 30.
Chapman, 28, is said to focus on working with "patriots and young businesspeople," in the party which pledges allegiance to Mr Putin.
She has enjoyed by far the most public profile of all the ten 'sleeper' agents arrested in the US in the summer, having won a consulting job at a Russian bank and starred in a seductive lingerie photo shoot with the Russian-language edition of Maxim magazine.
Mr Putin rallied to the defence of Chapman and the nine other Russian spies after they were expelled from the US, and promised them all important work in their homeland.