Russian authorities have raided television presenter Ksenia Sobchak’s villa outside Moscow in connection with the arrest of an executive in her media holding, while Sobchak herself appeared to have fled the country, state-run media reported Wednesday.
Agents searched Sobchak’s property in the Moscow region village of Gorki-8, according to the 112 Telegram channel, which is said to have links with Russia’s security services.
The raid follows the arrest of Kirill Sukhanov, a business manager at Sobchak’s media holding, “Ostorozhno, Media” (Beware, Media), at a Moscow restaurant Tuesday.
Sukhanov was detained for allegedly extorting government officials via Telegram channels, according to RIA Novosti.
Arian Romanovsky, a former editor of Russian fashion magazine Tatler, was detained alongside Sukhanov as part of the extortion case, reported the Baza Telegram channel, which is also linked to Russian security services.
The case relates to payments the pair are alleged to have demanded in return for guarantees that government officials would not receive critical coverage on Sobchak-run Telegram news channels, according to RBC.
TASS reported later Wednesday, citing law enforcement agencies, that Sobchak herself is a suspect in a criminal case of extortion from state conglomerate Rostec after it previously reported that she was neither a suspect nor a witness.
If charged with the crime, she would face up to 15 years in prison.
Citing unnamed law enforcement sources, TASS also reported that although the authorities planned to detain Sobchak at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, she evaded detention by crossing into Lithuania via Belarus. It was unclear how long Sobchak intended to stay outside Russia, the report said.
While Sobchak has neither confirmed nor denied her sudden departure from Russia, she has suggested that Sukhanov’s detention was related to a wider government crackdown on independent media in Russia since the war in Ukraine began.
“They constantly detain my reporters. Now they’re fabricating a case against Kirill,” the one-time reality television star and former presidential candidate wrote on her Telegram channel Tuesday.
Last month, state-run media reported that Sobchak was at risk of criminal proceedings under Russia’s wartime laws against spreading “fake news” about the authorities.
Sobchak is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, St. Petersburg’s first democratically elected mayor who was credited with giving President Vladimir Putin his start in politics.
