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World|politics|October 19, 2017 / 05:25 PM
TV Star launches bid for Russia’s presidency

AKIPRESS.COM - Russian television star and journalist Ksenia Sobchak announced that she will run for president in the country’s 2018 election ― a bid that may spark voter interest but hinder efforts to unseat Vladimir Putin, Huffington Post reported.

Known as “the Paris Hilton of Russia,” 35-year-old Sobchak promoted her candidacy in a Russian-language YouTube video. The fashion icon-turned-politician said the country needs change from its current political elite, according to The Associated Press.

Some analysts, however, suspect her presidential bid is part of a Krelim-backed plot to divide the opposition to Putin, who is widely expected to seek another term as president.

Sobchak maintains she made her decision to run independently and denies being in collusion with Putin or his allies.

But Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger and prominent Putin foe, expressed skepticism about Sobchak’s motives, according to the AP.

Putin and his supporters “need a cartoonish liberal candidate at a time when they don’t want to allow me to enter the race,” Navalny said. He is serving a 20-day jail term for organizing an unsanctioned protest and is prohibited from seeking the presidency because of a prior criminal conviction that he says was politically motivated.

Sobchak said she supports Navalny but dismissed his criticism.

In an interview on Russia’s TV Rain on Wednesday, she said: “Over the past 17 years, a whole new generation has grown up that wants to see a different Russia that is civilized and European.”

A post shared by Ксения Собчак (@xenia_sobchak) onOct 17, 2017 at 12:49am PDT

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