Russian investigators raided the home of Ksenia Sobchak, the glamorous daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s one-time boss, in a move that has sent shockwaves through the country’s political scene.
Sobchak, a 40-year-old TV star, has often been critical of Putin, but many Russian opposition figures have accused her of serving the Kremlin’s agenda. In 2018, she became a liberal challenger in Russia’s presidential election, finishing a distant fourth with about 1.7 per cent of the vote in what her critics described as a Kremlin effort to add a democratic veneer to Putin’s sweeping re-election.
Investigators said that the search at Sobchak’s luxury home in a prestigious Moscow suburb was part of a probe into alleged wrongdoing by her media director, Kirill Sukhanov, who was arrested on charges of extortion.
![Vladimir Putin greets Ksenia Sobchak during his meeting with opposition candidates who ran against him in presidential elections in 2018. Photo / Yuri Kadobnov, via AP, File](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/TZDDKCYVEFD2FO4QSG55UZ7M6M.jpeg?auth=06bf53c13317df944ad9235c8039f62dd5a480d76f30aec538991004657283d9&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Sobchak on Tuesday rejected the accusations against Sukhanov as “ravings and nonsense” and described his arrest as part of the authorities’ efforts to stifle independent media.