TV host and socialite Ksenia Sobchak has reportedly agreed to run for president, in exchange for being invited back to Russian network television, where she once thrived as a national star.
Sobchak’s candidacy is apparently designed to undermine opposition politician Alexey Navalny, whose felony record technically prevents him from running for elected office.
Sobchak is expected to make the formal announcement during her TV show on Dozhd at 7:30 p.m. on October 18, but several unnamed sources confirmed to the magazine The New Times that Sobchak will end weeks of speculation by at last naming herself a candidate for next year’s presidential election.
Sources claim that Sobchak is expected to focus much of her campaign on criticisms of Navalny, attacking his populism and personality cult.
On October 14, the BBC reported that Sobchak met with Vladimir Putin, ostensibly to interview him about her late father, though the two apparently spoke in private, as well, presumably about the 2018 presidential race.
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