Ksenia Anatolyevna Sobchak[a] (Russian: Ксения Анатольевна Собчак, IPA: ['ksʲenʲɪjə ɐnɐ'tolʲjɪvnə sɐpˈt͜ɕak]; born 5 November 1981) is a Russian-Israeli public figure, TV anchor, journalist, socialite and actress.

She is the younger daughter of the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, who was one of Vladimir Putin's mentors, and the Russian senator Lyudmila Narusova.

[4] From 2008 to 2010, Sobchak was a host of the reality shows Who does NOT want to be a millionaire?,[5] Last Hero-6,[6] and Sweet life of a blonde, Muz-TV Awards, and Two stars.

featured interviews with the head of Left Front Sergei Udaltsov, member of "Solidarnost" (Solidarity) movement Ilya Yashin, and eco-activist Yevgeniya Chirikova.

[10] In 2007, Sobchak recorded the song 'Dance with me (Потанцуй со мной)' with Russian rapper Timati, as well as a music video.

[15] On 28 December 2008, Sobchak was on an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to New York City when she and other passengers determined that the pilot was drunk prior to take-off.

[17] Sobchak's father, Anatoly, had been both Vladimir Putin's and Dmitry Medvedev's law professor at Leningrad State University.

[19] According to the Moscow News, "Putin's reported affection for the Sobchak family is widely believed to give Ksenia Sobchak a protected status, which may also explain her boldness", such as her encounter in October 2011 with Vasily Yakemenko, the controversial leader of the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement, when she reprimanded him for eating at an expensive restaurant in Moscow and published a video of the encounter on the internet.

[19] At the end of March 2006, Sobchak rented a two-story mansion at 16 Arbat Street and convened a press conference to announce the creation of the youth movement "Everyone is Free!"

According to the TV presenter, she was prompted to take this step by numerous letters in which fans of her work in Dom-2 shared their problems and experiences.

Sobchak felt that political positions and opposition served only as a pretext for realizing her ambitions and declared her movement non-political, aimed at providing help and support to young people.

[20] The Izvestia newspaper conducted an online survey in which, after the press conference, users were asked about their desire to join Sobchak's movement.

The results showed a lack of enthusiasm: of 2,133 respondents, only 6% expressed a desire to join for political reasons or sympathy for the leader, and 38% admitted that they did not know who Ksenia Sobchak was.

Participants in the movement collected garbage, painted benches and playgrounds on the boulevard, and Sobchak herself, in the presence of journalists and onlookers, wiped off a yellow bikini with a red heart drawn by an unknown vandal from the crotch of the Yesenin monument.

Sobchak made policy statements and issued club cards to the most active participants, providing free access to nightclubs, discounts, and other privileges.

[23] At first, the movement was the cause of gossip in the political environment: experts and young politicians tried to understand Sobchak's motivations.

The head of Yabloko Youth, Ilya Yashin, doubted Sobchak's independence and shared with journalists his opinion that "Everyone is Free!"

only once - in the context of discussing the elections to the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg of the fourth convocation, which it considered fictitious, and the construction of the Okhta Center skyscraper for Gazprom on the right bank of the Neva opposite the Smolny Cathedral.

[25][26] In September 2017, prior to her announcement to run, Putin said of Sobchak's presidential intentions to a press conference at the 9th BRICS summit, that "Every person has the right to nominate himself in accordance with the law.

[30] Some skeptics accused Sobchak of being a spoiler to undermine Alexei Navalny; every recent election for the presidency has featured a prominent liberal candidate handpicked by the Kremlin.

Lithuanian authorities confirmed that Sobchak had entered Lithuania and was entitled to stay for 90 days without a visa because she was an Israeli citizen.

She was one of the Russian protest participants targeted by the Investigative Committee of Russia on 12 June 2012, when her apartment in Moscow was entered and searched.

In any case, half the country's population deserves a female voice for the first time in 14 years in these allegedly male games.

"[50] In her interview discussion with Julia Volkova in 2021 Sobchak voiced her support for LGBT rights in Russia, stating that she disagrees with the country's controversial "gay propaganda law".

[52] On 1 February 2013 Sobchak married Maksim Emmanuilovich Vitorgan [ru] (born 10 September 1972 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR).

[55] In 2015 Sobchak said that if there was ever the possibility of political persecution against her, she had thought about emigration or getting an Israeli passport, but would prefer the United States where she could find a Russian-speaking community:[42] I'm a very big patriot.

[56] On 15 July 2023, TASS said that seven people were arrested in a connection with a plot to kill Sobchak and Margarita Simonyan, the chief editor of RT.