Day after raid, Russian celeb Ksenia Sobchak emerges in Lithuania with Israeli passport

Major drama unfolded in Russia on 26 October 2022 as investigators raided the home of a prominent celebrity - Ksenia Sobchak - the daughter of President Vladimir Putin's one-time boss.

Subsequently, Russian news agencies claimed that Sobchak had fled the country.
A day later, on 27 October, the 40-year-old TV star emerged in Lithuania on an Israeli passport.

Reports had suggested that Sobchak had bought tickets to Dubai and Turkey to mislead the authorities but eventually left for Belarus, from where she moved to Lithuania.

The raids on Sobchak's luxury home in a prestigious Moscow suburb were part of a probe into alleged wrongdoing by her media director, Kirill Sukhanov, who was arrested on charges of extortion.

Sobchak had earlier rejected the accusations against Sukhanov as "ravings and nonsense", and described his arrest as part of the government's efforts to stifle independent media.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian authorities said that Israeli passport-holders do not need a visa and are allowed to stay in the country for 90 days. Sobchak reportedly entered the country on foot.

Russian news agency Tass has claimed that a victim of the alleged extortion was Sergei Chemezov, a longtime Putin associate who heads the state Rostec corporation. Rostec is a conglomerate controlling Russian aviation industries and other high-tech assets.

(With PTI inputs)