Do you imagine all Russian women to look like the stereotypical “babushka”?  You might know the stereotype... short, with a wrinkled face, complete with headscarf, and ready to push anyone who gets in the way of her wheeled shopping trolley? Well the complete opposite is far closer to the truth. Ladies in modernizing Russia that is becoming more “Westernized” are now often stunningly beautiful and are becoming more educated. Many Russian ladies nowadays can seen walking on the streets of cities like Moscow and St Petersburg with blond hair, green or blue eyes.

Russian ladies nowadays have an iron will for keeping their figure in check. They have a ruthless and steely determination to escape from the poverty, cold weather and hard times that have befallen austerity conditions in their country.

Many of them choose to become models as an easy way to rise out of the despair which “traps” them. And if using their looks is one way to remove themselves, then arguably who is to blame them? Shouldn't we be able to use whatever “assets” we have in order to get ahead in this world?

A new image of Russian women is emerging that is in sharp contrast with the former stereotypical “babushka” image of Russian women. Today a new kind of Russian woman is focused on being “fashion-immaculate”. Few of these ladies would ever venture out without carefully styled hair, make-up and co-ordinated clothing.

One problem with looking like that is that it costs huge amounts to maintain. If there’s one thing a vast number of Russian working class girls don’t have, it’s…money.

How do they get the money to keep them in the lifestyle to which they would love to become accustomed? After turning to modelling Russian girls often try to bag themselves a celebrity boyfriend, or even better, husband. Ruthless in their determination to escape from a lifetime of poverty, an American or European sport-star husband could be the perfect route to economic freedom. But did it lead them to a lifetime of happiness and security, or heartache at the mercy of the world’s paparazzi?

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples, starting with the beautiful Irina Shayk, the stunning model from Yemanzhelinsk, near Kazakhstan.

The 28 year-old beauty is currently dating Cristiano Ronaldo, (the well-known Portuguese footballer.) We first noticed her choice of husband (!) material when she started dating Egor Andreev, a much older and incredibly wealthy Russian businessman. It’s amazing how wealth can make an older guy so much more attractive, isn’t it? No doubt he quickly learned the folly of his ways. Once a gold-digger, always a gold-digger, right?

After her dalliance with Egor, Irina swiftly moved onto pastures new with her next choice of beau. He was Valerio Morabito, the Italian real estate developer and movie producer. Maybe a little Latin lovin’ was now in order!

Born in March 1974, Valerio was lucky enough to inherit a massive personal fortune from his deceased father. So much so that he was able to purchase a Manhattan townhouse for $10 million, spending a further $10 million renovating it. As it went on to sell for a reported $26 million, we’re sure he didn’t have to watch the pennies!

They become engaged, splitting when she became famous. He is suing a New Jersey-based Flat Rate storage facility for selling his personal possessions without warning. He was lucky in a way; after all Irina could have swiftly managed to rid him of a vast fortune! Was Irina sorry to be away from this wealth? Not at all, “let’s move on” must surely be one of her mottos!

Irina was seen with Cristiano Ronaldo at the Madrid Masters quarter final tennis match in Madrid in 2012. With so many hunky sportsmen on offer, was that an even playing field or was she simply keeping her options open, the clever girl?

They started dating in 2010, and as Ronaldo is immensely famous and wealthy, it would appear Irina has reverted to type. Rumors are abounding that Cristiano has now married Irina and she is a “step-mother” to Cristiano Jr. He even thanked his “wife” when he collected the prestigious Fifa Ballon d’Or at a ceremony in Zurich.

So this relationship would appear to be successful, but would that have anything to do with the way sportsmen are “fit”, or the fact that they have an immense amount of money? We’ll leave you to decide! But Ronaldo, beware, you may have met some ruthless football players before but there is nothing quite as ruthless as a Russian model with a taste for the good life!

Maryna Linchuk

Maryna Linchuk is a 27 year-old Belarusian model, best known for decorating the covers of Italian and Portuguese Vogue.

Maryna’s dating history is somewhat checkered, to say the least. We first heard of her dating Sal Morale, a struggling DJ in NYC, not making much money. Maybe that is one of the reasons Maryna Linchuk swiftly moved onto a somewhat secret relationship with Andrej Rusakov from 2012 till early 2014.

We’re not suggesting that Maryna Linchuk is only motivated by money, but… Considering Andre Rusakov’shuge personal wealth it would have seemed a match made in heaven.

He’s a successful investor,running his own investment fund and a talented entrepreneur, bringing foreign companies into the Russian market. He owns a $10m dollar apartment in central London and multiple properties in Moscow. Harvard Business School graduate Andrej Rusakov was probably a smart move for Maryna Linchuk, in more ways than one!And so what could have been the attraction for the Belarussian model? Stars in the eyes, or $ signs? We have to admit there is a definite twinkle in the steely blue eyes of Andrej Rusakov, but was that the only thing which attracted Ms Maryna Linchuk?

And since the beginning of this year, Maryna Linchuk is rumoured to be in a steamy relationship with Semyon Varlamov, who as recently as November 2013, was seen as a violent man. Semyon Varlamov obviously has a taste for Russian models in general, not only Maryna Linchuk in particular.

So what prompted Maryna Linchuk to get involved with Semyon Varlamov? Nothing to do with the fact that on January 30, this year, Semyon Varlamov signed a five-year, $29.5 million contract extension! Bad boy Semyon Varlamov earns big bucks and in true Russian model style, Maryna Linchuk was quick to learn of hispotential! Of course Marina Linchuk would have you believe that it was true love with Semyon Varlamov and absolutely nothing to do with his wealth! However, Semyon Varlamov has reportedly broken up with Maryna Linchuk after taking public credit for sleeping with her by posting a picture of them in bed on his Instagram.

Our personal opinion is that Maryna Linchuk got lucky Semyon Varlamov left her as otherwise they both would have ended up jobless and income-less, like most sportsmen and models do after their careers are over. The lengths some of these models will go to in order to not to return to the “fatherland” will never cease to astonish Russian “ordinary folk”.