I live a very different life now, with incredible privileges, but looking back I realise that growing up in Russia gave me tools that other people don't necessarily have - such as the will to push that bit further, to make things happen, to succeed.

I missed quite a lot of school because I was working from the age of 11.

When I work as a model, it feels like holiday. Doing a shoot is so light in a way that it's really a good break from being a mother or running a charitable organization and other philanthropic projects that I'm really passionate about.

I learnt early to have little expectation so I protected myself from ever feeling greatly disappointed.

The people that live in my hometown do not walk along the street with smiles on their faces. It is a desperate place, but I got out.

When you are at the bottom, you find beauty in such little things, and goodness in such little gestures. When I compare any struggle today to ones that I may have had in my childhood, there is nothing that can bring me down.

When I remember my life in Russia it is in totally dark colours.