Ksenia Sobchak, a popular socialite and Reality TV Star intends to replace Vladimir Putin as Russian President during the March 2018 presidential election.
Ksenia, daughter of Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, is described in the media as Russia’s Paris Hilton. She wrote a book titled “How to Marry a Millionaire”.
In an interview with CNN’s Christine Amanpour, Ksenia said that her “fight against the regime” gained legitimacy when she participated in massive opposition protests in 2011 and 2012.
At a Press Conference earlier in September, 2017, the Russian President spoke on Ksenia’s presidential intentions.
He said:
“Every person has the right to nominate himself in accordance with the law. And Ksenia Sobchak is not an exception here. I respect her father, Anatoly Sobchak. I believe that he was an outstanding figure in contemporary Russian history.
I’m saying this without a trace of irony. He was very decent, played a big role in my own destiny. But when it comes to running for Presidency, things of a personal nature can not play any significant role. It depends on what program she will offer, if she really will run, and how she will build her Presidential campaign.”
However, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, describes her as a “fairly loathsome Kremlin game that goes by the title of: ‘Let’s put a liberal laughing stock up for the elections in order to distract attention.'”