Russian female soldiers compete in annual ‘Camo For Makeup’ event (PHOTOS)

Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Fifty women from the Russian Armed Forces threw grenades, fired AKs and crawled under barbed wire for glory - and beauty - ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

“Attention! RVSN [Strategic Rocket Forces team - ed.] - left! To the makeup room - march!”. These drill commands were heard on March 2 in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl Region, as the annual women’s military tournament got underway, humorously titled ‘Camo for Makeup’, in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8.

The ladies applied all manner of camouflage paint to their faces - stars, flags and bright colors among them.

Then, the first stage began, which was traversing a fire assault strip, where the soldiers threw grenades, crawled under barbed wire and carried out emergency medical assistance procedures. 

“There was a big puddle there, with ice underneath. I got a nice bath,” said Oksana Sukhorukova, one of the contestants.  

The women also took part in a biathlon race using Kalashnikov machine guns, according to the Ministry of Defense website.

One of the stages involved radio telegraphing, with contestants having to send and receive transmissions quickly using Morse code.  

There was also an intellectual test - a cook-off in field conditions. This was followed, in true Russian fashion, by a beauty pageant.

The competition has been taking place every year since 2016, with the main prize being a trip around the cities of Russia’s Golden Ring. The winners, sadly, are not publicized.

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