MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian police on Wednesday searched a house belonging to journalist, socialite and media personality Kseniya Sobchak as part of a criminal case against her commercial director, state-owned news agency TASS reported, citing law enforcement agencies.
Sobchak, the daughter of late St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, President Vladimir Putin’s political mentor, has been involved in liberal opposition politics for several years and ran against Putin for the presidency in 2018.
On her Telegram channel, she suggested that the case that triggered the search was politically motivated, and linked to a documentary she had made on the use of torture in Russian prisons.
Her commercial director was detained on Oct. 25 on charges of extortion. TASS cited law enforcement agencies as saying that Sobchak was not a suspect.
Sobchak’s Telegram channel, which frequently carries reports critical of government policy, has 1.4 million followers, but she remains controversial among Russian opposition activists, some of whom accuse her of maintaining links to the Kremlin.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
