Natalia Stepanenko

Natalia Ihorivna Stepanenko (née Tkachenko; x|Ukrainian: Наталія Ігорівна Степаненко, x|Russian: Наталья Игоревна Степаненко; born 1 June 1985) is a Ukrainian-American television personality and former model, best known for starring in the x|VH1 reality series Russian Girls.

Early life
Stepanenko was born in x|Kiev, Ukraine to Ihor Tkachenko and Polina Osinova. Her father was a veterinarian, while her mother worked as a seamstress and dressmaker. Growing up, she had several pet horses due to her father's occupation.

Stepanenko grew up in an upper middle-class x|Ukrainian-speaking household. She later learned x|Russian in school, which is the language she spoke primarily outside of her home. She graduated from high school in 2003, and later moved to x|New York City to pursue a modeling career.

Career
After arriving in New York City, Stepanenko signed to an agency and began working in print campaigns and on runways. She has walked runways in New York, x|Los Angeles, x|London, x|Miami, x|Berlin, x|Paris, x|Barcelona, x|Milan, x|Kiev, x|Moscow, x|Madrid, and x|Tokyo, in addition to appearing in several international fashion magazines. Stepanenko retired from modeling in 2015.

Personal life
Stepanenko married Russian-American businessman and former model Ilya Stepanenko in 2014. They began dating in 2010. The couple resides in x|Locust Valley, New York on x|Long Island. Prior to getting married, she resided in the x|Upper East Side neighborhood of x|Manhattan. In 2017, she announced her pregnancy and has a due date in January 2018.

Stepanenko became an American citizen in 2010. She holds dual citizenship to Ukraine and the United States, in addition to speaking fluent x|Ukrainian, x|Russian, and x|English, and conversational x|Belarusian. She supported the 2013–14 x|Euromaidan protests in Ukraine.