The main photograph of 2024 has become and will probably remain the shot of the raised hand of the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, who was the target of an armed assassination attempt seconds earlier. And in this already legendary photo, he is protected by a young girl with blond hair. Who would have thought that we could be talking about a Russian karateka. Could it really be that she saved the star of world politics?

Trump’s Ryazan Salvation?

A campaign rally in Pennsylvania over the weekend turned into a tragedy. According to preliminary information, the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, climbed onto the roof of a building located about 120 meters from the stage during Trump’s speech to voters. The 20-year-old opened fire on the presidential candidate, hitting him in the right ear. It was later revealed that the politician was saved by the fact that he had just turned his head to a screen showing data on illegal immigrants.

After that, the shooter did not stop and continued to fire bullets, but this time they hit passersby in the immediate vicinity of the stage. As a result, several people were injured, and 50-year-old American and Trump supporter Corey Comperatore died. Crooks was eliminated by return fire from the Secret Service, and explosives were found during an inspection of his car.

Of course, the investigation is still ongoing and far from over, but some sensational details are already coming in. Even the notorious Russian trace in the whole story has been found. According to the Telegram channel “Typical Ryazan”, the girl who defended Trump on stage was a native of this region, a karate athlete.

— The girl bodyguard who protected Trump from bullets was Irina S. from Ryazan. She is a master of sports in hand-to-hand combat and karate, she is a student of the Ryazan coach, master of sports Olga Novikova and honored coach of Russia Evgeny Zhirikhov from the Ryazan Federation of Hand-to-Hand Combat, — the report says.

According to this information, she was born in Russia and moved to the United States in the 2000s. The girl, whose name has been changed, is a master of sports in hand-to-hand combat and karate. She worked as a coach, studied at a university, and also graduated from a school for private bodyguards. There is no reliable confirmation of this information yet, although, for example, the coordinator of the “Women’s Movement” of “United Russia” in Moscow, Irina Eliferova, has already expressed her point of view on social networks.

“Well, now Trump is not only impossible to lock up in prison, he has received protection from a Russian athlete and a new round of popularity. The scriptwriters have clearly decided to add more action and heroism to this political drama,” Yeliferova noted.

On the other hand, the honored coach of Russia Evgeny Zhirikhov, in a conversation with Match TV, did not confirm that it was his protégé who took part in saving Trump.

“We had a good team in Ryazan, a strong one, we had more than 50 masters of sports. Yes, I know that some went to the USA, but I don’t remember anyone specifically from Ryazan. I can’t confirm this now,” Zhirikhov told Match TV.

Donald Trump after the assassination attempt / Photo: © Anna Moneymaker / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Reaction in the US

Another issue is that not everyone was happy with the actions of this girl, or Donald Trump’s entire security service. Some certainly expressed admiration for the work of the alleged Russian karateka, but there were also those who came out with rather harsh criticism, coupled with sexism.

“This shows the reason why women shouldn’t be in the Secret Service. Her only job was to jump in front and take a bullet for Trump, but instead she cowered behind him. I don’t even blame the girl, I blame whoever hired her,” former UFC fighter and five-time world champion Jake Shields wrote on social media.

“The head of the Secret Service and the leader of this security detail must resign,” said billionaire Elon Musk.

“There are rumors that the assassination attempt on Trump was an inside job after this version was made public. Look at what the Secret Service agent is doing a few seconds before!” – said indignant political blogger with a million followers Matt Wallace.

“I’m not trying to be sexist, but we deserve answers. Look at the actions of the female agents of Trump’s team. They have no idea what to do while people are defending Trump. They look like glorified cosplayers,” said another popular blogger in the US, John Besham.

“I was laughing at the female security guards. One of them tried to put her gun back in the holster as soon as Trump got in the car. After a few failed attempts, she was like, ‘No, it’s not going in. Let’s hold onto it for now.’ Another one was adjusting her glasses and her dress, damn,” wrote user Neptune87.

One way or another, the Russian trace was eventually perfectly detected, and in the sphere of sports. Maybe after this, if Trump is elected US President, he will reciprocate the Russian athletes and return them to international competitions?