Moment Putin’s Playboy model goddaughter caught on camera fleeing to the West
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Vladimir Putin's apparent goddaughter has been spotted on camera fleeing Russia just hours after police searched her luxury country home near Moscow.
Former Playboy model Ksenia Sobchak, 40, is a Russian TV star and opposition politician who stood against Putin in the 2018 presidential election, coming fourth.
Dubbed 'the Paris Hilton of Moscow', Sobchak appears to have escaped the authorities on foot, crossing from Russian satellite state Belarus into Lithuania, an EU and NATO country.
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In extraordinary footage supposedly leaked from Belarusian border cameras and posted to Telegram, she is seen walking with an unknown man who glances back as if to see if they're being followed.
Both are wearing caps and at one point the man tells her to lower her head as they pass the camera.
She passed through Belarusian passport control at 1.32pm yesterday (Wednesday, October 26), just 36 minutes before Russian state media announced her escape.
In the clip, a male border officer is heard asking: “Where are you heading?” She replies: “To Lithuania.”
Sobchak then walks through the border accompanied by two uniformed men.
Today (Thursday, October 27), Lithuania confirmed she had entered the country using an Israeli passport.
Darius Jauniškis, the Lithuanian Director of the State Security Department, told radio station Zhinyu Radijas that Sobchak has Israeli citizenship, meaning she can remain there without a visa for 90 days.
"So far we do not have intelligence information that she may pose a threat to the Lithuanian state," he said.
"If there was such information, of course, certain measures would be taken."
Earlier in the war, Sobchak denied reports she had been issued with an Israeli passport after travelling to the country.
According to Russian political scientist Sergei Markov, a “high-ranking official” told Sobchak that she faced arrest, leading her to make a bid for freedom.
She bought tickets to both Turkey and Dubai to “confuse” police before travelling to Belarus by car.
Belarusian authorities made no visible attempts to stop her leaving – despite her being wanted in connection with a criminal probe in Moscow that could see her jailed for 15 years.
There are suspicions that Putin sanctioned her escape, not wanting to see his supposed goddaughter banged up.
Sobchak is a socialite-turned-politician who hosted the Russian version of Big Brother. She now runs independent media outlets criticising Putin.
She ran against Putin as a liberal candidate in the 2018 election, which was rigged in the winner's favour.
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The Russian tyrant has known her since her childhood and attended her baptism, leading to rumours he is her godfather.
Her father, Anatoly Sobchak, was Putin’s law professor and mentor. Anatoly introduced Putin into politics as his deputy when he served as mayor of St Petersburg.
Putin even attended the former mayor's funeral in 2000 alongside his daughter.
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- Vladimir Putin
- Russia
- Playboy
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