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Russia’s Paris Hilton on presidential bid against Putin

Ksenia Sobchak, 35, to challenge Vladimir Putin in next year's Russian election.

Ksenia Sobchak, 35, to challenge Vladimir Putin in next year's Russian election. Photo: AP

Russia’s answer to Paris Hilton, TV personality Ksenia Sobchak, says she plans to run for president next year, offering liberal voters an alternative to President Vladimir Putin.

Opinion polls show Mr Putin, who has dominated Russian politics for nearly two decades, will comfortably win re-election if, as most observers expect, he decides to seek what would be his fourth term in March.

However, a significant minority of voters accuse the Kremlin chief of overseeing a corrupt system that has isolated Russia from the outside world, and many of them have taken part in mass protests organised by Putin critic Alexei Navalny.

Russian officials say Mr Navalny is ineligible to run for president due to a criminal conviction he says was fabricated.

Ms Sobchak, who has been described by Vogue magazine as the Russian version of US socialite Paris Hilton and is the daughter of Mr Putin’s former mentor, said she had decided to run because she was tired of the same politicians, including Putin, running year after year.

In a video clip posted online on Wednesday evening, Ms Sobchak, 35, said she had the right to run for Russia’s top political job under the country’s constitution, which stipulates that all candidates must be 35 or older.

“I decided to exercise that right because I am against all of those (candidates) who usually exercise that right,” she said.

“When I was 18 and was studying in university, Vladimir Putin became president of Russia. Children who were born that year will go and vote themselves this year. Just think about that.”

But some Russian liberals fear Ms Sobchak’s participation will play into the Kremlin’s hands by splitting the opposition vote.

Ms Sobchak’s father, Anatoly Sobchak, was a Russian politician credited with being a mentor and teacher Mr Putin.

He was a co-author of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg.

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