Who Is Ksenia Sobchak? 'Russia's Paris Hilton' Declares Presidential Bid Against Putin

Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite with ties to President Vladimir Putin, announced Wednesday that she will run for the Russian presidency.

According to the Moscow Times, Sobchak announced her bid to run for president on a special episode of her show "Sobchak Live," aired on the opposition-leaning news channel Dozhd TV. The Kremlin also welcomed her candidacy, saying it was fully constitutional.

Sometimes portrayed as Russia’s Paris Hilton, Sobchak, 35, is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak — a former mayor of St. Petersburg and the man responsible for launching Putin into politics after he left the Russian intelligence organization, KGB.

Politico stated it was a belief held by some that she was Putin’s goddaughter, a claim that she has denied over the years. Her mother, Lyudmila Narusova, was a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Her role on the Russian version of the television show "Big Brother" called "Dom-2," or "House-2," was her ticket to fame. However, she was unofficially banned as a presenter on state television during her work as a journalist and talk-show host since she joined the anti-Kremlin protests in 2012, New York Times, reported.

Politico stated her house was raided in June 2012, on the eve of an opposition rally. She also reportedly dated Ilya Yashin, a well-known anti-government activist for a short period of time.

Photographs of Sobchak in designer clothes are often featured on her Instagram page where she has more than 5 million followers.

Sobchak’s name first surfaced last month when a Kremlin source told Moscow Times she would be an "ideal" candidate to challenge Vladimir Putin in the vote that is set to happen on March 18, 2018.

She said Wednesday that she hoped to appeal to Russians who were disillusioned with Putin’s long rule, and criticized what she called Russia’s "collapsing education and health care systems," and "monstrous corruption and propaganda."

"I intend to be the candidate for those who want to vote against everyone," she said, according to Politico.

In a letter to the news site Vedomosti (In Russian), she outlined her reasons for running against Putin, also stating the elections should not be boycotted only because prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from running due to fraud convictions.

"By rejecting the legal and safe but still significant manifestation of our will as participants in controlled, imperfect, even dishonest elections, we do not leave ourselves any out except street resistance," said Sobchak, adding that protests were not for everyone.

She said that history has shown even elections controlled by authoritarian governments have "turned into reasons and instruments for authentic democratic changes."

"This always occurred when the opposition took part in elections, and never with its silent non-participation," she added.

Meanwhile, Navalny said last month that Sobchak would act as a "spoiler" candidate and that she was coordinating her bid with the Kremlin.

"This is a loathsome Kremlin game that goes by the title of 'let’s put a liberal laughing-stock up for the elections in order to distract attention,'" Navalny said.

Like other self-nominated candidates, Sobchak needs to gather 300,000 signatures from at least 40 Russian regions to get registered for the race.