Anna Tatarintseva - the most beautiful girl in Moscow

Anna Tatarintseva, a 24-year old Muscovite, will represent Russia at the Miss World-2002 beauty contest, which will take place this November in the Nigerian capital.

She won the Beauty of Russia national contest whose final was held in the late hours of Thursday.

According to Angelina Vovk, the hostess of the ceremony, the winner's prize comprises 300,000 roubles.

The annual contest Beauty of Russia was first held in 1995. Its participants are winners of similar regional or city contests or those who passed qualification tours.

Now Anna Tatarintseva, the Beauty of Russia, is packing things for Nigeria. However, the country is not unanimous with regard to the forthcoming influx of beauties from all around the world. For instance, the Nigerian National Council of Muslim Youth threatened last week to derail the contest in Abuja.

The document signed by Alhaji Ishaq Kunle, the organisation leader, fiercely criticises the decision by the Nigerian federal authorities to hold "a shameful show with half-naked women in the country where the majority of the population is Muslim during the Ramadan celebration - a sacred month for all Muslims."