MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - Former adult video star Sasha Grey began her car rally across Russia on Thursday, setting off from the eastern city of Vladivostok.
Grey is driving the same model Lada Kalina sedan as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who took a Kalina for a 350-kilometer (210 mile) drive starting from Vladivostok in 2010.
According to PrimaMedia.ru website, Grey, escorted by several other cars, rode across a bridge spanning Zolotoi Rog (Golden Horn) Harbor and left Vladivostok in the direction of Khabarovsk, where she is expected to give a news conference on Friday.
The car journey of the former porn star raised concerns in Kazan, the city on the Volga River that Grey is expected to pass on her way to Moscow, with local activists planning a rally on May 18 against her visit to their city.
Dmitry Berdnikov, a leader of the “Against Crime and Lawlessness” public movement in Kazan, said he intended to write a letter to the Russian Investigative Committee branding Grey’s journey as a negative advertisement for Lada Kalina.
“People will be psychologically unable to buy this car after they get to know that it was advertised by a porn star,” Berdnikov said.
Russian cars, including the Lada Kalina, enjoy a patchy reputation in Russia due to their poor quality. Putin had two spare Kalinas with him during his own drive from Vladivostok, and had to change cars at the start of the journey due to a breakdown.
Grey, 25, became one of the most well-known porn stars in the late 2000s, but retired from the industry in 2011 to focus on modeling, conventional acting and music endeavors.
