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Russian Pensioner Hits Country's Biggest Lottery Jackpot Ever


Russia's state-run lottery company Stoloto says a pensioner has won more than half a billion rubles ($8.5 million), the country’s largest-ever jackpot.

Natalia Vlassova, a 63-year-old retiree from the region of Voronezh, bought her ticket from a local post office but waited a week until her granddaughter checked the numbers and found it was a jackpot winner, the lottery company said in a statement on its website late on November 17.

Vlassova said in a video post on the website that she will give some of her winnings to charity.

The average pensioner in Russia receives about 14,000 rubles a month.

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