Why Ksenia Sobchak fled from Russia? 

Now Ksenia Sobchak had to literally run away from Russia. At a time when her country house was being searched by special services, and her closest assistants were detained and will probably be sent to prison in the near future. Of course, in order to testify against Ksenia Sobchak.

They claim that the d enunciation of Ksenia Sobchak, which will allow Russian Investigative Committee to close the case about the organization of a criminal group, was personally written by Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostech and one of the closest associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

So what happened? Why did Putin this time decide to repress the representative of one of the families closest to him throughout his biography? After all, Ksenia's father Anatoly Sobchak was, so to say, Putin's political mentor in the first period of the future Russian president's career. This is exactly the person for whom Putin carried suitcases. And the question is not even whether Putin supervised Sobchak on behalf of KGB of the USSR, or whether he really found a job at the St. Petersburg City Hall after completing his service in KGB. But the connection between Putin and Sobchak is obvious. Putin even facilitated, already in the days of independent democratic Russia, the escape of Sobchak to Paris when he, already the former mayor of St. Petersburg, was threatened with criminal prosecution. By the way, it is possible that it was he who could contribute to the escape of Ksenia Sobchak herself.

But, as in the case of Anatoly Sobchak, this is one-way ticket. Sobchak could return to Russia almost immediately after Putin became Russian President.  But he soon died of a heart attack in the Kaliningrad region under still unexplained circumstances. 

Ksenia Sobchak, if she is really accused of organizing a criminal group, will be able to return to Russia, probably already after the end of Vladimir Putin's era.  Because one thing is to allow her to escape, and another is to allow her to live.

For many years, Ksenia Sobchak was, so to say, Putin's political spoiler, playing the "alternative". Her mother, Lyudmila Narusova, is still a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council. Yes, this is exactly the council member who tried to ask his colleagues after the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, what borders of Russia are now. And, of course, Mrs. Narusova did not receive any exhaustive answer. Because members of the upper house still do not know where the border of their terrorist homeland ends. But why she asks about it out loud?

The fact that Sobchak no longer has a place in Russia shows that there is no place in Russia for Putin's regime, which operated until February 24. Before the beginning of the war with Ukraine, that regime still provided certain opportunities for discussion even on the fundamental issues of its existence.  Yes, of course, one cannot doubt Russian territorial integrity and say that Crimea is part of Ukraine, but one could voice certain doubts about the expediency of the operation to occupy Crimea. Yes, one cannot in any way influence the re-election of Putin as the president countless times, but one can talk about whether nullifying the terms of the presidency is really in Russian interests. So, obviously, according to the authorities, radical media have no place in Russian information space, but Ekho Moskvy or even Novaya Gazeta still can exist.

After February 24, everything changed beyond recognition. Authoritarianism eventually became totalitarianism. Vladimir Putin has definitely turned into Adolf Hitler.  And a dictator of this level does not even need spoilers, which once demonstrated his readiness, if not to listen to alternative opinions, then at least to tolerate him.

Now, any alternative opinion, and even the presence in Russia of people who once expressed alternative opinions, is not liked by the authorities. She is doing everything to push these people out of Russia. Or if these people do not want to "extricate themselves", then put them in jail. So the alternative is very simple. It is not a choice between silence and peaceful existence. It is an alternative between emigration or imprisonment.

The case of Ksenia Sobchak should also be a clear example for the entire Russian society. If Putin did not feel sorry for Sobchak — well, he gave her the opportunity to leave through Belarus — then he will definitely not give such a chance to people less close to him historically. You should not think that you will survive by giving up. No! Silence is no longer golden, it is simply a postponement of judgment.

Reference: Russian journalist and public figure Ksenia Sobchak is the daughter St. Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, Vladimir Putin's former boss, and political mentor. Ksenia Sobchak was the candidate for the 2018 Russian presidential election. She positions herself as an opposition figure. It was reported that Sobchak left Russia on October 26 to avoid possible arrest. 

About the author: Vitaliy Portnikov, writer, journalist.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.