The newly-created Japanese anime icon who is wanted by Ukrainian national security service, Crimea's chief prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya, says her attractive looks have never hampered her judicial practice and are, well, deceitful.
Poklonskaya took the job, which many of her male colleagues
feared to accept, just days before Crimea’s referendum on
independence from Ukraine, stunning the world not only with her
courage, but her beauty as well.
“In the 12 years I’ve spent working in Prosecutor General’s
office, I’ve been dealing with organized crime and put many
criminals in prison,” Poklonskaya said. “My looks have
never been an obstacle – I hope they deceive my enemies.”
During her first press conference on the new position, the
34-year-old blonde didn’t hesitate to denounce the coup-imposed
government in Kiev.
“The constitution says that the only power in Ukraine – and I
repeat – the only power in Ukraine is its people,” she said
at the time.
The video with her speech garnered hundreds of thousands of views
on the internet in just a few days, with Poklonskaya’s big blue
eyes and infant-like looks turning her into a Japanese anime art
sensation.
Some artists even pit Poklonskaya against another famous woman from Ukraine – former PM Yulia Tymoshenko – who promised to leave scorched earth on Russia’s place for its reunification with Crimea.
Poklonskaya’s fans from all over the world call her
“Prosecutie” and even invented a name for themselves –
“Nataliaites.”
Natalia wasn’t even aware of her online popularity until the
journalist from Russian NTV channel showed her the fan art.
“Oh, my god! I didn’t know about that,” she laughed.
“No, I want to be perceived as a prosecutor. And I’ll achieve
this through my work."
But Kiev – where she’s spent most of her career – is not amused.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s website has her in the wanted
section, accusing Natalia of organizing a coup.
“I’m not afraid to tell the truth. I’m not a criminal,”
Poklonskaya said an interview with RT. “I’m not promoting
Nazism, like some among the new authorities in Kiev. If they want
to launch a criminal case against me, I’m not afraid of
that.”
Natalia says she’s not upset that the Ukrainian authorities have
declared the all the ranks and achievements, which she earned
through years of hard work, illegal.
“The main thing is that this new stage in life begins from square
one in a dignified and great state like Russia,” she told
NTV.
Poklonskaya still hasn’t received her Russian passport, but plans
to do as soon as there’ll be a break in her tight schedule.
The Republic of Crimea has withdrawn from Ukraine and was
officially accepted into the Russian Federation on March 21. The
military coup in Kiev led to the Crimean peninsula – home to an
ethnic Russian majority – holding a referendum, in which 96
percent of Crimean voters decided to cut ties with Kiev and
rejoin Russia.