I learnt early to have little expectation so I protected myself from ever feeling greatly disappointed.

Because of my childhood where I was constantly by myself, I always feel lonely. I have a lot of people that I absolutely love and I know love me but I can't get rid of that feeling of loneliness no matter who I'm with - even with my children.

My childhood gave me resilience - and there's little that can surprise me in life.

When you are at the bottom, you find beauty in such little things, and goodness in such little gestures. When I compare any struggle today to ones that I may have had in my childhood, there is nothing that can bring me down.

I was born in Nizhny Novgorod to a very poor family and unfortunately my father and mother separated when I was very little.

Before I left Russia in 1999, I was living in a very poor factory town with my family and friends, and nothing was ever going to change.