Former Miss Universe Contestant Dies at 30 After Freak Elk Accident

MOSCOW, Aug 17 — Russian model and former Miss Universe contestant Kseniya Alexandrova has died at age 30, weeks after suffering severe brain injuries in a freak car accident involving an elk.

Alexandrova was traveling with her husband in the Tver Oblast region on July 5 when the animal suddenly leapt onto the road, smashing through the windshield. Her husband, who was driving, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the crash happened “in a split second” and left Alexandrova unconscious.

She was airlifted to a hospital in Moscow but succumbed to complications from her injuries on Aug. 12, according to Russian media.

The couple had married just four months earlier.

Alexandrova represented Russia at the 2017 Miss Universe pageant after finishing as first runner-up in Miss Russia the same year. Alongside her modeling career, she was also a practicing psychologist with a degree from Moscow Pedagogical State University.

Her agency, Modus Vivendis, confirmed her death on Instagram, calling her “a symbol of beauty, kindness, and inner strength.”