THE TOPIC was “A Future Russia”. The location, a modest House of Youth in Vladimir, a provincial city some 190km east of Moscow. The lecturer was Ksenia Sobchak, a 36-year-old presidential candidate who made her fortune as an “it” girl and a TV reality-show star. Wearing a sharp suit and gold-heeled stilettos, Ms Sobchak presented a rich and glamorous model of that future. The local university, she told the audience, was lagging behind even the lowliest in California. Russia should compete in biotech rather than missiles. Slipping into management-speak, she said the government should be judged on “key performance indicators”.
The audience seemed unconvinced, but this is the role the Kremlin has scripted for Ms Sobchak as an approved sparring partner for Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, at the election due on March 18th. More importantly, she is a spoiler for Alexei Navalny, the only viable challenger, but banned from the contest. Mr Navalny built his campaign on a personal and...Continue reading
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