Daughter of Putin's mentor, Russian It-girl Ksenia Sobchak, announces her presidential bid

RT.com - Russian jet setter, TV personality, glossy magazine editor and all-around It-girl-turned opposition figure Ksenia Sobchak, 35, has officially announced her decision to run for the presidency in the 2018 election.

Running as an independent, Sobchak generally has a love-hate relationship with the Russian audience. Having been on the country's pop culture scene for many years, she has hosted one of the most popular reality TV shows, is a frequent guest at international VIP celebrity parties, has modeled for Playboy and is now editor-in-chief of L'Officiel Russia.

In a recent interview with Glamour Russia, Sobchak called being president "a top level art project," adding that she thinks her career in showbiz would help in her political bid.

Sobchak also hosts an interview show on the Dozhd (Rain) TV channel, and in 2012 joined the opposition movement, having taken part in the Bolotnaya Square protests in central Moscow.

Ksenia's late father, Anatoly Sobchak, was a famous Russian politician, the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg in the 1990s. Vladimir Putin joined Sobchak's team in 1990, and worked closely with the politician, who is widely considered to be his mentor.

"I have always had respect for [Ksenia's] father and regard him as an outstanding figure in the modern Russian history... He was an honorable man, and played a great role in my life," Putin told Vedomosti newspaper in September, when rumors of Ksenia Sobchak's possible run for the presidency started circulating.

However, Putin pointed out that "personal matters can play no significant role when running for presidency is this case," saying that Sobchak's potential political career "depends on the political programme she offers."

"Every citizen in accordance with the law has the right to run as a candidate. Ksenia Sobchak is no exception," he said. (ontinueReading