By Tom Parfitt, Moscow
Russia’s entry to the Miss Earth 2012 beauty pageant has provoked outrage in her motherland by calling it “a beggar” and “my poor long-suffering country, mercilessly torn to pieces by greedy, dishonest, unbelieving people”.In the remarkable outburst, Natalia Pereverzeva, said Russiawas “a great artery, from which the ‘chosen’ few people are draining away its wealth.”
The 24-year-old issued the withering attack in response to a standard question about what made her proud of her country and what she could promote about it, asked of all contestants of Miss Earth. The annual international beauty contest, an analogue to Miss World which emphasises environmental issues, is being held in the Philippines.
But, veering off message, she added: “My Russia is a beggar. My Russia cannot help her elderly and orphans. From it, bleeding, like from a sinking ship, engineers, doctors, teachers are fleeing, because they have nothing to live on. My Russia – it is an endless Caucasian war.”
