Ex-porn star Sasha Grey begins showy drive across Russia

Moscow: Former adult video star Sasha Grey has begun her car rally across Russia, driving the same model of car as Russian President Vladimir Putin did on a similar journey. Setting off from the eastern city of Vladivostok, Grey is driving the Lada Kalina model sedan as Putin, who took a Kalina on a 350-km drive starting from Vladivostok in 2010. According to PrimaMedia.ru website, Grey, escorted by several other cars, Thursday rode across a bridge spanning Zolotoi Rog (Golden Horn) Harbor and left Vladivostok in the direction of Khabarovsk. The car journey of the former porn star raised concerns in Kazan, the city on the Volga River that Grey is expected to pass on her way to Moscow, with local activists planning a rally May 18 against her visit to their city. Dmitry Berdnikov, a leader of the “Against Crime and Lawlessness” public movement in Kazan, said he intended to write a letter to the Russian Investigative Committee branding Grey’s journey as a negative advertisement for Lada Kalina. “People will be psychologically unable to buy this car after they get to know that it was advertised by a porn star,” Berdnikov said. Russian cars, including the Lada Kalina, enjoy a patchy reputation in Russia due to their poor quality. Putin had two spare Kalinas with him during his own drive from Vladivostok, and had to change cars at the start of the journey due to a breakdown. Grey, 25, became one of the most well-known porn stars in the late 2000s, but retired from the industry in 2011 to focus on modelling, conventional acting and music endeavours. IANS