Twenty-one-year-old Resident of Vitsyebsk Becomes Miss Belarus 2008

Volha Khizhynkova, a 21-year-old resident of Brest, was named the winners of a biannual national beauty contest, Miss Belarus 2008, in a ceremony held in the Palace of Sports in Minsk on Friday night.

She is said to be six feet one inch tall, with a hip size of 36 inches. Ms. Khizhynkova, an instructor at a vocational school, was awarded a 3.53-ounce white gold crown and a one-room apartment in Minsk’s Vyasnyanka neighborhood, which can be valued at more than $70,000.

Attending the ceremony was Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

More than 2,000 girls took part in the contest, with 26 advancing to the final. Thomas Anders of Germany, Philip Kirkorov of Russia and Belarusian pop singers Dzmitry Kaldun and Ruslan Alyakhno sang at the ceremony.