As the daughter of Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, Ksenia Sobchak enjoys more freedom in Russia than other members of the opposition. During the week, however, the journalist flees to Lithuania because of allegations of blackmail. On Telegram she now complains about jokes, conspiracy theories and lies.
Prominent Russian TV presenter and former presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak came forward after fleeing Russia and admitted that she was in “big trouble”. “I’m not on Telegram as often as I used to because all my thoughts are with my loved ones who I’m cut off from and of course my co-workers who are cut off from the world and their families,” the 40-year-old writes in a longer telegram post. “Yes, I’m in trouble. Apparently in big trouble.”
Sobchak left Russia earlier this week and fled to Lithuania via Belarus. The background to this are allegations that she was involved in a “extortion case of a particularly large scale”, which she does not go into further in her article. For this reason, your home was searched on Wednesday morning, and the commercial director and a former editor-in-chief of your media company, Attention Media, were arrested.
After her escape, Sobchak had denied the allegations. It was an attempt to put pressure on her media company, she wrote on Telegram. “It is clear that this is an attack on my editorial office, the last free editorial office in Russia that had to be put under pressure.” The 40-year-old had repeatedly criticized the Russian attack on Ukraine on her successful YouTube channel in recent months.
In her most recent telegram post, she also criticizes the fact that many untruths and lies about her and her team are currently being spread on Russian television and in the Russian press. “Two young boys could go to prison for up to 15 years,” says Sobchak. “Are you okay with spreading jokes, conjecture, conspiracy theories and lies against this background?”
The journalist is the daughter of Anatoly Alexandrovich Sobchak, who, as mayor of St. Petersburg in the 1990s, was a political mentor to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. For a long time she therefore enjoyed more freedom in Russia than other members of the opposition. Shortly after her escape, the Russian business portal RBC reported, citing a source in the Russian Ministry of the Interior, that Sobchak – contrary to what was first reported – was not one of the suspects in the alleged blackmail case.
According to Russian media, their commercial director and the former editor-in-chief of Attention Media are said to have jointly demanded money from the CEO of the Russian technology company Rostec for favorable reporting. After her escape, Sobchak wrote on Telegram that she did not understand how Rostec and his boss were involved in the case. She hopes that there is a misunderstanding that can be cleared up quickly.
Sobchak ran against Vladimir Putin in the 2018 election for the Russian presidency. At the time, observers accused her of allowing herself to be exploited by the Kremlin in order to give the election a semblance of competition.
