Injured Ukrainian mother appears on the cover of Playboy

A picture of courage: Injured Ukrainian mother appears on the cover of Playboy after undergoing months of treatment and reconstructive surgery

• Iryna Bilotserkovets is posing in a metal bikini and eye patch on the front cover
• She was caught in a gun attack in Kyiv last year, three days after Russian invasion

The wife of a Ukrainian politician who survived a suspected assassination attempt is now the face of the first Playboy edition to be printed in the country since the outbreak of war.

Iryna Bilotserkovets can be seen posing in a metal bikini and eye patch on the front cover of the latest issue.

The model and TV presenter whose husband is an aide to Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko underwent months of emergency treatment and reconstructive surgery after being caught in a gun attack with her children just three days after the Russian invasion on February 26, last year.

She has become a symbol of resistance in Ukraine after the attack ever since.

Mrs Bilotserkovets was treated at a hospital in Berlin. Speaking to the magazine about the first time she saw herself in a mirror after treatment, she said: ‘An eye missing, tubes sticking out everywhere, hair shaved off from surgery.

Iryna Bilotserkovets can be seen posing in a metal bikini and eye patch on the front cover of the latest issue

The model and TV presenter whose husband is an aide to Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko underwent months of emergency treatment and reconstructive surgery after being caught in a gun attack with her children just three days after the Russian invasion on February 26, last year

‘Stitches, scars, wounds everywhere; I was just Frankenstein’s monster. My jaw had shattered, like a twig.

‘I no longer have a pretty face, but the rest of my body is beautiful.’

She now works with Ukraine’s cultural forces to put on events for troops.

Mrs Bilotserkovets was driving home through a wealthy Kyiv neighbourhood with her three children when she was hit by bullets.

She had to undergo four operations and was left with a missing eye, broken jaw, and scars over her body. She added: ‘It was not a question of preserving my beauty; it was a question of whether I would live or not.

‘Doctors in Ukraine said I was probably going to die. I didn’t agree.’

Playboy Ukraine said in a statement that the model was a heroine in its ‘Women Stay Strong’ edition which looks at the ‘resilience of Ukrainian women who have been injured during the war but who have not lost their thirst for life.’

Since Russia launched its invasion last year, Ukrainian Playboy has produced only online editions, with this version being the first to be printed in more than 18 months.

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