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Vladimir Putin’s ‘goddaughter’ is reported to have obtained Israeli citizenship and sold her Moscow apartment since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ksenia Sobchak is well know in Russia as a prominent TV presenter and the country’s leading woman opposition politician who stood against Putin in the 2018 presidential election.
According to reports, the 40-year-old has secured Israeli citizenship for herself and her young son, and said to have sold an elite apartment in Moscow for more than $10 million.
She has known Putin since she was a child, and he attended her baptism.
According to reports, the 40-year-old has secured Israeli citizenship for herself and her son
Ksenia Sobchak is well know in Russia as a prominent TV presenter and the country’s leading woman opposition politician
Putin has longstanding ties to her family. Her father, Anatoli Sobchak, was Putin’s law professor and mentor who handed him his first foothold in politics as Deputy Mayor of St Petersburg.
Putin smuggled Mr Sobchak out of Russia to get medical treatment in the west when his patron was wanted for alleged corruption.
He was later photographed at Mr Sobchak’s funeral alongside Ksenia and her mother Lyudmila Narusova, a Russian senator in 2000.
Reports in Israel and Russia say Ksenia, who had Jewish links through the maternal branch of her family has obtained citizenship in Israel, where she has been ‘on holiday’ since early March.
After confirming her holiday, she said last month: ‘I am Russian, I am a citizen of Russia. I do not emigrate anywhere, I have no other citizenships.’
Today, she posted on social media that she is currently in Russia and claimed the reports of Israeli citizenship are coming from Putin’s ‘propaganda’ media, but did not deny them.
She shared a video of herself next to the Moscow River with ice lumps in the water mocking the claims that she is close to the River Jordan.
She did not comment on the reported sale of her flat in Moscow.
One source has claimed she ‘feared repression’ in Putin’s Russia and had arranged an escape route out of the country.
Her presidential bid in 2018 saw her place fourth in a pool which was widely seen as heavily rigged in Putin’s favour. Prior to standing against him, it is understood she went to see him to discuss her candidacy.
Putin was photographed at Anatoli Sobchak’s funeral alongside Ksenia and her mother Lyudmila Narusova
She once posed for Playboy, appearing on the front cover in Russia
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ksenia expressed concern for the welfare of her mother, who was the first major Russian figure to publicly condemn the war.
Mrs Narusova also hit out at the latest Moscow media crackdown which has blocked key independent news outlets.
Ksenia posted from Israel: ‘Mama! I am proud of you, and I am very worried for you. Very.’
Ksenia has accused state TV channels in Russia of ‘shameless lies’ over its coverage of the ongoing war, and revealed that 96 out of 100 conscripts were killed in one attack.
She has also accused Putin of failing to arrange the return of soldier’s bodies to Russia and claims they are being gnawed by stray dogs.
If she obtained an Israeli citizenship, Ksenia would be barred from standing in any future Russian presidential election.
Reports have suggested Putin wants his forces to have seized enough of Ukraine by May 9 for him to declare victory on the Russian anniversary of Nazi Germany surrendering in 1945, and thus ending the Second World War in Europe.
However, against all odds, Kyiv’s forces have successfully repelled the Kremlin’s armies from several regions of the country, dealing heavy losses while doing so.
With Russian forces weakened, there are doubts that Moscow can hold large regions of Ukraine for long against local insurgencies and military counter-attacks.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence estimates that 19,000 troops have been killed since the invasion began on February 24. Meanwhile, at least six Russian generals and nine senior commanders have been killed.
In recent days, thousands of Moscow’s soldiers have retreated from the Kyiv region to be deployed elsewhere.
