Russia to get women traffic cops

Critics say it is far too easy to bribe Russian traffic police

Russia is to create its first all-female unit of traffic police, in a move to combat corruption.

The police chief in the southern city of Volgograd said the move was prompted by research showing that women were less inclined to accept bribes.

The first unit of 26 women will work in the centre of Volgograd, said the police chief, Mikhail Tsukruk, quoted by the Izvestia newspaper.

Road accidents kill about 35,000 people in Russia each year, Reuters reports.

Mr Tsukruk said applicants "don't have to be blondes with long legs, but we'd like them to be attractive... let people admire them!"

The head of the Moscow police, Vladimir Pronin, pointed out that mixed-sex police patrols already exist in Russia.