Playboy model is one of many new Duma members

Despite the protests and controversy surrounding the alleged rigging of Russia's parliamentary election, the new State Duma will still convene next week. And, from the looks of it, it's going to be a whole lot sexier.

According to The Moscow Times, the newest member of Russia's lower house of parliament is Maria Kozhevnikova, a 27-year-old Playboy cover model.

She was named the country's sexiest woman of the year by Maxim in 2011. She was also the lead singer of the pop band "Love Stories," and appeared in the soap opera, "Univer," reported Business Insider.

Kozhevnikova will join the political ranks with a few other unorthodox members.

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The Moscow Times reported that other members include:

"… former heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuyev, who famously claimed to have uncovered evidence of a Siberian Yeti during his campaign in the Kemerovo region, tennis star Marat Safin, actors Lyudmila Maksakova and Vladimir Mashkov and Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum."

A social media activist on Twitter named Vladimir Burmatov also won a parliamentary seat. He has more than 50,000 followers. In September, he started the hashtag "SPASIBOPUTINAZAETO," or "Thank Putin for That." His hashtag ranked in the site's "global trending top 10," a first for any Russian-language topic.

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