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But however artificially staged Ms Chapman’s initial foray into politics may have been, it has struck a genuine chord among at least some ordinary Russians. Support is most enthusiastic in her native Volgograd. Referring to the legendary Second World War Soviet spy, local journalist Stanislav Anishchenko explains:
    Our national hero is Stirlitz, a spy that fought against fascism. Anna Chapman is Stirlitz as a girl. So our media made her a hero and we organised the song contest. People always need heroes – that’s why Anna Chapman was born.
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    The star-struck Mr Anishchenko even organised a song contest in honour of his city’s most famous daughter. The winner was ‘Anna Chapman is not Mata Hari’ – a reference to a Dutch dancer and courtesan shot for spying in the First World War. It captures the nationalistic pride that Russians hold in their spies, though the doggerel lyrics are equally dire in the original Russian as in this loose translation. 31
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    America’s symbols of freedom,
    The model of democrats’ wisdom,
    It’s a home, not prison for nations,
    The immigrants’ high expectation,
    You get comfortable life as a present,
    The White House guys are so pleasant,
    They can’t sleep without your well-being,
    Without helping earning your living,
    It’s not so easy as it sounds,
    Sometimes all dreams fall to the ground,
    One day that a girl is simple and shy,
    Can wake up and find she is a spy,
    If only poor Anna could know,
    That this road is not safe to go,
    Then you’d give up business for sure,
    And go to the place where’s secure,
    To Mars or better to Venus,
    To meet no misters, no peers,
    To look at the earth from a distance,
    But suffer from lonely existence,
    The world is full of secrets, believe me,
    You cannot get it, just leave it!
    You don’t want surprises? – keep an eye open!
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    Be Glorious, all spies of Russia!
    Be famous from Europe to Asia!
    Your work and efforts are priceless,
    Your fame and your records are doubtless,
    You went through fire and water,
    Kept busy the police headquarters,
    Said nothing in chambers of torture,
    Kept heads up in all misfortunes,
    Anna Chapman is not Mata Hari! (repeated four times)
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    This knee-jerk nationalism is a perfect antidote to public apathy and disgruntlement. Ms Chapman also contrasts sharply with the ranks of United Russia, mostly filled with balding middle-aged men. Sergei Markov, a Duma deputy with close Kremlin ties, says:
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    People are bored with the talking heads on the TV; they are interested in adventure and in action. Spies like these are really popular in the country. She fits the bill perfectly and she is really attractive.
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    He also sees Putinesque qualities in Ms Chapman’s curves:
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    Vladimir Putin is regarded as a sexual champion as he is very cool and very sexy. Both [Ms Chapman and Putin] are spies – both of them young, healthy, energetic, sexually attractive – and they met publicly. This is about making United Russia sexier and cooler . . . a successful political message needs to be combined with a successful non-political message.
    This linking of Putin and Chapman has already started to sink into the popular consciousness. In May 2011 a shoot-em-up game called Voinushka ( Punch-up ) was launched on popular Russian social networking websites. A youthful-looking khaki-clad Mr Putin features as the commander, setting tasks for the person playing the undemanding game. He has a redheaded assistant, showing voluptuous décolleté, wearing a Soviet-style military hat and toting a rifle. The game’s designers say they did not consciously choose Ms Chapman as a model.
    It would be easy to dismiss this as harmless fun and games – a kind of circus in which an exotic bout of public service turns into an equally exotic private-sector phenomenon. If Ms Chapman and her colleagues seem to have done no real harm in the West, except