Miss Ukraine didn’t win the weekend’s Miss Universe pageant. That honor went to Miss USA. But that wasn’t what broke Viktoria Apanasenko’s heart in New Orleans Saturday.
The 29-year-old from Chernihiv — who wore a black evening gown with a cape in the colors of the Ukraine flag to represent her war-torn country’s grief — told the Daily Beast seeing Miss Russia’s contestant parade across the stage sporting “the color of blood” really hit home.
“I am not sure the organizers understood what it felt like for me to be standing and smiling on the same stage with Miss Russia who was wearing a red dress, the color of blood,” Apanasenko said.
