A 31-year-old married gun-toting ensign has won the a beauty contest in Vladimir Putin's national guards.

Mother-of-one Anna Khramtsova topped a list of 1,000-plus entrants for a Russian military force which reports directly to the Kremlin strongman.

But she explained she had to cope with sexism in the 340,000-strong Russian National Guard, set up by Putin.

'I do get to hear those old jokes about blonds in service, but I ignore them - and just serve stylishly,' she said.

She is from a military and law enforcement family, with her father in the army and police for 30 years and her mother also in uniform, reports the dailymail.co.uk.

'I am proud to continue the dynasty,' said Anna, from Yekaterinburg, revealing she had previously served in the police and has a law degree.

Showing her shooting skills, she said: 'Most important is to pull the gun out calmly, to aim and breathe out.'

She chose her black manicure colour to match her gun, she said.

An unnamed male colleague said of the junior officer: 'First of all she is a member of the National Guard team, and only then a woman.

'Of course she looks after herself, uses makeup and checks how she looks in the mirror.'

In the gym she was filmed saying: 'Right now I am training to take part in a bikini contest.

'I didn't want to at first, but then colleagues and friends insisted and pushed me into it.'

Servicewoman in the national guard were urged to upload their 'best pictures' and biographies for the 'photo beauty contest', with 57,000 Russians taking part in the voting.

Pictures of another dozen finalists will be used in a 2020 calendar for the national guard.

The national guard is the internal military force of the Russian government.

It has a mission to to secure borders, take charge of gun control, combat terrorism, defeat organised crime, protect public order and guard important state facilities.