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Meet Putin's presidential challenger - 'It Girl' turned 'anti-establishment' choice

High-profile TV personality Ksenia Sobchak called for her candidacy to be regarded as a "none of the above" alternative

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Ksenia Sobchak, the Russian socialite, journalist and TV host announced plans to run for Russian president next year

© AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

She called for her candidacy to be regarded as a "none of the above" alternative

© Vyacheslav Prokofiev/TASS

Ksenia, 35, is the daughter of late Anatoly Sobchak, the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg who was once a political mentor to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Photo: Ksenia Sobchak with her mother Lyudmila Narusova

© Vyacheslav Prokofiev/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak and her husband Maksim Vitorgan, an actor and a producer of television shows

© Artiom Geodakyan/TASS

In recent years, Sobchak has become known as an opposition figure. Photo: Ksenia Sobchak, center, walk with protesters in downtown Moscow, 2012 a day after Vladimir Putin's inauguration

© AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev

Sobchak is also known as It girl and clothes designer. Photo: Ksenia Sobchak and Russian film director and actor Ivan Okhlobystin, 2011

© AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel

Ksenia Sobchak (right) perform in a scene from Nikolai Gogol's play The Marriage staged by Filipp Grigoryan at the Theatre of Nations in Moscow

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak with poodles on the set of Circus With Celebs Show, 2007

© Ruslan Roshchupkin/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak at the Russian premiere comedy Pledge This! starring Paris Hilton, 2007. Her voice was dubbed over Paris Hilton's in the comedy released in Russia under the title 'Blonde in Chocolate'

© Vitaly Belousov/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak attends the Glamour Women of the Year awards ceremony, 2009

© Maxim Shemetov/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak and dancer Yevgeny Papunaishvili at the show 'Dances With Stars', a Russian version of the BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing'

© Alexei Ladygin/TASS

Ksenia Sobchak at the opening of the GUM Skating Rink in Moscow's Red Square

© Ilya Pitalev/TASS

Since 2011 Sobchak is hosting the program Sobchak Live on the independent channel Dozhd

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

TV personality and socialite Ksenia Sobchak announced plans to run for president of Russia next year. Sobchak, 35, is the daughter of late Anatoly Sobchak, the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg who was once a political mentor to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The presidential election in Russia will take place on March 18, 2018. The election campaign will start between December 7 and 17.

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Russian presidential election 2018

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