Sofia Nikitchuk, once Miss Russia 2015 and first runner-up in Miss World, is in serious legal trouble. The 31-year-old beauty queen stands the risk of facing a maximum imprisonment of two years for tax evasion.
A criminal complaint against Sofia for smuggling luxury jewels over the border illegally has been filed, the Telegram channel Mash reports. She did not declare them, citing ignorance about its necessity. This resulted in an unpaid tax of approximately ₽3.1 million (~$34,400 USD).
The event took place as she travelled from Nice to Moscow with an overnight stop in Istanbul. While passing through the “green corridor” in Vnukovo Airport, Sofia failed to declare her costly jewelry. Airport officials detained her and estimated the worth of the jewelry as around ₽12 million (~$133,300 USD). The jewelry involved included a 750-carat-gold Cartier necklace, two rings, as well as a gold Patek Philippe watch.
Born in Yekaterinburg, Sofia first became Miss Yekaterinburg in 2014 and then Miss Russia in 2015. Sofia represented Russia in Miss World in China, where she was awarded 1st runner-up. She now operates her own beauty salon as well as her line of beauty cosmetics and clothing, Nikiso.
She recently broke off with billionaire Boris Zingarevich’s son, Anton Zingarevich, with whom she had been linked since 2023. She previously had an association with Levan Nazarov, co-owner of search firm Headhunter, who then became engaged to Diana Manasir, although the engagement did not work out. She also had rumored associations with Roman Abramovich, although she did not confirm them.