Europe | Centre ring

Ksenia Sobchak fills out the cast of Russia’s electoral circus

Many suspect a plot to distract attention for Vladimir Putin’s benefit

A model candidate
|MOSCOW

KSENIA SOBCHAK first gained fame in Russia as the host of Dom-2, a raunchy reality-television show where contestants compete for love while building a house. Since then, Ms Sobchak, whose father was Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, has cycled through a variety of roles, including talk-show host, opposition leader, journalist, restaurateur, model and actress. Her latest part may be her biggest yet: candidate for president of Russia.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Centre ring”

A tsar is born

From the October 28th 2017 edition

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