Ksenia Sobchak, Russian star linked to Putin, fled using Israeli passport - The Washington Post

Anatoly Sobchak, who died successful 2000, was Putin’s brag and governmental mentor. In 1990, Sobchak hired then-KGB cause Putin arsenic a lawman mayor, and the 2 families remained adjacent passim the decade.

Ksenia Sobchak present runs the “Ostorozhno Novosti” project, which includes a web of Telegram quality channels, a podcast studio, a YouTube transmission and Sobchak’s ain societal media page. She has agelong straddled a obstruction betwixt Russia’s governmental elite and its wide governmental opposition, creating immoderate distrust of her from some camps. In 2018, she ran for president against Putin, winning astir 2 percent of votes.

Sobchak’s existent ineligible troubles seemed to bespeak hostility wrong the well-connected elite arsenic good arsenic the clime of heightened anxiousness amid Russia’s ongoing warfare successful Ukraine. It besides highlighted the urgency galore well-to-do Russians consciousness astir obtaining dual citizenship and a 2nd passport.

Sobchak fled to Belarus and past Lithuania, which is simply a subordinate of the European Union and on with the different Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, is efficaciously closed to Russian travelers — adjacent those with antecedently issued visas permitting them to participate the European Union’s Schengen question zone. Only dual citizens oregon Russian nationals with humanitarian visas and residency permits tin enter.

But Sobchak, who is partially of Jewish heritage, utilized her Israeli passport to transverse the border, Lithuania’s Interior Ministry confirmed Thursday. A video from a surveillance camera emerged connected Telegram channels showing Sobchak entering Lithuania connected ft and talking to borderline officials.

Earlier this week, constabulary raided Sobchak’s residency extracurricular Moscow and arrested her commercialized director, Kirill Sukhanov, who was ordered to beryllium held successful pretrial detention until precocious December.

According to Russian authorities media, investigators person accused Sukhanov and the erstwhile exertion of the Russian variation of Tatler magazine, Arian Romanovsky, of extortion aft a ailment by Sergey Chemezov, a Putin state who heads a state-owned subject and defence contractor, Rostec.

The state-run quality bureau Tass, citing lawsuit records, reported that investigators accused Sukhanov and Romanovsky of publishing a station connected 1 of the Telegram channels, “containing accusation that could origin important harm to rights and morganatic interests” of Chemezov and of past demanding 11 cardinal rubles (about $180,000) to delete the post.

Investigators besides implicated Sobchak successful the extortion scheme, Tass reported, and issued a warrant for her arrest, but she eluded them. “She near Moscow precocious Tuesday night, astatine archetypal buying tickets online to Dubai and Turkey to confuse the operatives,” the study said, citing unnamed law-enforcement sources.

The Washington Post could not independently verify the claims.

In a statement, Sobchak rejected the accusations. “What extortion, from who? What does immoderate of this person to bash with Rostec,” Sobchak wrote connected her Telegram blog. “It is evident that this is simply a raid connected my editorial office, the past escaped editorial bureau successful Russia, which had to beryllium unopen down.”

“Hopefully, it’s not the case, and this is each a misunderstanding,” she added, hewing to a diplomatic enactment that would look to let for the investigators pursuing her to beryllium overruled by higher authorities.

It is not the archetypal clip that Sobchak’s location has been raided by instrumentality enforcement, nor is it the archetypal clip she has alleged an effort to soundlessness her arsenic a commentator and absorption figure.

In 2012, her Moscow flat was raided arsenic portion of a expanse against Russian absorption activists including Alexei Navalny, who is present serving a agelong condemnation successful a situation colony aft surviving a poisoning onslaught allegedly carried retired by Russian information agents successful August 2020.

Sobchak famously answered the doorway for the constabulary wearing a negligee, and the agents confiscated astir $1.5 cardinal successful cash, successful dollars and euros, from her safe. She aboriginal told journalists, “They’re retired to soundlessness me.”

Sobchak grew up successful St. Petersburg among the elites, having known dozens of now-politicians and ministers since she was a young child.

Until the raid successful 2012, she was mostly considered untouchable fixed her fame and household links to Putin. In caller years she seemed to proceed to bask immunity from prosecution, dissimilar galore others captious of the Kremlin who tried to physique wide audiences extracurricular of state-controlled media.

Sobchak is simply a polarizing fig successful Russian autarkic media and absorption circles. She archetypal gained prominence arsenic a world TV big successful the aboriginal 2000s, establishing scandalous representation compared to Russia’s Hilton — a examination she came to disdain.

She rebranded herself arsenic an absorption fig aft participating successful the “white ribbon” anti-Kremlin protests that erupted successful precocious 2011 and continued successful 2012 implicit predetermination fraud and Putin’s consequent instrumentality to the presidency aft 4 years successful which helium had relegated the apical occupation to Dmitry Medvedev, portion serving alternatively arsenic premier minister.

Tens of thousands of radical protested successful Bolotnaya Square and different Moscow locations astatine the time, marking the biggest demonstrations since the illness of the Soviet Union. But Putin yet squashed the opposition, with progressively repressive measures including arrests and prosecutions.

Sobchak has often cautiously criticized Putin and his policies, but galore absorption figures person accused her of trying to simultaneously appease liberals and the Kremlin.

Putin implicit the years has often faced “loyal” opponents successful his statesmanlike contests, and the Russian absorption formed Sobchak’s determination to tally successful 2018 arsenic a ploy by the Kremlin to siphon distant wide votes and make a facade of ideology aft officials barred Navalny, Putin’s main nemesis, from running.

Investigative quality outlet Proekt reported successful 2020 that the run was intimately coordinated with the statesmanlike administration, portion Sobchak herself has denied that she ever asked Putin oregon his aides for support to run.

More recently, Sobchak reinvented herself arsenic a superior TV writer and an anchor of a YouTube transmission with much than 3 cardinal subscribers.

The quality of her swift departure from the state yielded predictably contradictory reactions.

“From the makers of ‘Sobchak connected Bolotnaya’ and ‘Sobchak the President’, ticker retired for the drama amusement ‘Sobchak In Opposition 3.0,’ ” tweeted Ivan Zhdanov, a Navalny state and manager of his Anti-Corruption Foundation. “Those who volition bargain into this erstwhile again are either not precise astute oregon person atrocious intent,” wrote Zhdanov, who is surviving successful exile successful Vilnius, Lithuania, to debar arrest. “Don’t get fooled.”

But Alexander Rodnyansky, a Ukrainian movie and tv shaper who worked successful Russia for decades earlier the war, offered a much sympathetic appraisal connected his Instagram blog.

“Sobchak had a immense assemblage and she without a uncertainty offered it wide and Western ideas,” Rodnyansky wrote. “In the conditions of the warfare and a systematic demolition of the civilian society, anyone who indispensable fly persecution deserves to beryllium supported, successful my opinion.”