RUSSIA: Russian women kick and punch their way to become professional bodyguards

Standing at a diminutive 1.64 meters, 27-year-old Olga Korolyova is a trained bodyguard who can looks like a business women but can break an assailant's arm and snatch a knife from attacker. The market for female bodyguards in Russian, particularly in Moscow, is increasing as more clients are businesswomen and rich wives who are demanding more qualified, skilled and less obvious body guards -- someone who doesn't attract attention but is trained in martial arts, hand-to-hand combat and extreme driving. Olga said that to train female bodyguard involves a lot of effort, time and money. The need to employ bodyguards is still quite high in Russia with the recent slayings of Andrei Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, journalist Anna Politkovskaya and other figures. Bodyguards themselves are becoming victims of attacks, the more professional, the more risk and better protection for businesspeople. "This is another approach in bodyguards business, because nobody may consider a girl nearby as a bodyguard. So our training is based on this, there is no difference between man bodyguard and woman bodyguard training skills." said Eduard Chernyshko, director of a Moscow bodyguard school. The school, founded in 2001, offers a basic two-week course including lessons on escorting cars and combat first aid while an etiquette teacher lectures on how to behave in wealthy society or be able to accompany a female charge while shopping inconspicuously. Bodyguards schools appeared in Russia in the early 1990s but despite the stable demand, the profession has almost no legal status in Russia, and so if something goes wrong, questions about insurance and compensation result in legal technicalities.

ITN Source | March 17, 2007

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