Svetlana Alekseeva (born , professional name Sveta Ugolyok) is a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

model. When she was four years old she suffered

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

s over 50% of her body. Her mother had left her alone in the house, and the child tried to burn off loose threads from her nightdress with a candle in the way she had seen her mother doing. The nightdress was of

synthetic fabric Synthetic may refer to: Science * Synthetic biology * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic elements, chemical elements that are not naturally found on Earth and therefore have to be created in ...

and caught fire, fusing to her skin. She was in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

for two months, and remained scarred from the burns. Her mother, an alcoholic, did not visit her in hospital, and subsequently neglected her. Alekseeva spent part of her childhood in an orphanage, and suffered bullying because of her appearance. At the age of 18 she said "If society puts pressure on you and is bullying you just because you have some individuality, this doesn't mean they're right". She is developing a career as a

photographic model A model is a person with a role either to display commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as an artist's model. Modelling ("modeling" in American English) entails using one's body to represent someone els ...

despite her scars. In 2018 she was one of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' 100 Women'', a list of "inspiring and influential" women. The listing said "Svetlana survived a fire that burned almost half her body and now works to help people with scars feel positive about their bodies." In January 2022, an article in the online magazine revealed Alekseeva's history as a survivor of a

child prostitution Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child ...

ring in

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

, as well as her ongoing attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice.

References

External links

Instagram accountWebsite
Year of birth uncertain 20th-century births Living people Burn survivors Russian female models People from Komsomolsk-on-Amur {{model-stub