Michelle Obama brings her superstar glamor to Moscow this week as she accompanies her husband on his summit with the Russian president. But the American first lady, who has wowed publics in the US and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands. “The institution of first lady in Russia is still quite young,” said Alyona Doletskaya, editor of Russian Vogue and doyenne of the Moscow fashion scene. “So there are no huge expectations on the part of Russian public.” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's wife Svetlana is pious and discreet and met her husband while she was a schoolgirl. She has assumed no independent voice on issues facing the country. In the United States, first ladies are accustomed to coming under the media spotlight, and Michelle Obama seems does not hesitate to speak her mind on a range of important social issues, such as health and education. Many Russians, traditionally conservative, look askance at such assertiveness. “A wife could express her opinions over the dinner table, but she shouldn't meddle in politics,” said Zoya Getmanova, a female pensioner living in Moscow. US White House officials have suggested Michelle Obama will avoid the limelight during the visit. Svetlana Medvedeva, meanwhile, is liked by younger Russians, who follow her appearances at celebrity bashes and her frequent outings, hand in hand, with her husband. She largely confines her public observations to carefully rehearsed speeches and dresses conservatively in tailored, pastel-colored outfits. Michelle Obama's fashion sense attracts comparisons with Jacqueline Kennedy, and there is a Web site entirely dedicated to what she wears. “It's not easy” to be a first lady, said Oksana Fyodorova, Miss Universe 2002. “But I think she (Svetlana) will succeed. And then we'll see who is better, Michelle or our Svetlana.”
