Leader of the TV channel "Rain" Ksenia Sobchak published on Wednesday on the website of the newspaper "Vedomosti" article, in which she announced that she intends to be nominated as a presidential candidate. She called herself "a candidate against all", promising to withdraw from the elections if they were allowed to join Alexei Navalny. Previously, he severely criticized her possible nomination. Mrs. Sobchak admitted that she had informed Vladimir Putin about her decision to stand for election. Representatives of the systemic and non-systemic opposition did not take her seriously.

Announced on Wednesday on his nomination as a "candidate against all", Ksenia Sobchak opened a website on which she posted the video explaining this step. "Zhirinovsky led his party to parliament when I was 12 years old. Yavlinsky and Zyuganov - when I was 15 ... When I was 18, Putin became president ... It can happen that, already when my son (he is a year old .- "Kommersant") will go to the polls, Zyuganov will continue to be on the lists of candidates, Zhirinovsky, Yavlinsky, Putin, their backups - I'm against it, "she explained. Mrs. Sobchak noted that she had met with Vladimir Putin (the Air Force website reported this), stressing that at the time of the meeting she had "a decision taken", and with Mr. Putin "my family has had a great relationship since the days of St. Petersburg. Therefore, I felt it right to say that I made such a decision. He said that every person makes decisions and is responsible for them. It seemed to me that he did not like it. " The reason for the meeting was an interview for a film about Xenia's father Anatoly Sobchak.

At the same time, Ksenia Sobchak said that she discussed the nomination with Alexei Navalny, but before his speech on YouTube. Recall, he called Mrs. Sobchak "a caricature liberal candidate with a cannibalistic attitude." Mr. Navalny called to refuse her nomination. However, on Wednesday, Mrs. Sobchak expressed her confidence that Alexei Navalny would support her when he quits the prison because he considers him "his companion and friend." "If Aleksei Navalny is registered at the elections, then I am ready to discuss with him options until the withdrawal of his candidacy. If it is not registered, there must be a voice that will be heard, "she said. On Wednesday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov again said that Alexei Navalny will not be able to participate in the elections.

Ms Sobchak promised on October 24 to present the leaders of her staff. She said that she was already talking with "a dozen businessmen" about the financing of the campaign.

"The Hypes of the presidential campaign have already been secured," Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation on electoral technologies Sergei Obukhov told Kommersant. He will not be surprised if the race is joined by the singer Schnur, rappers Oxxxymiron with Gnoy or another candidate from the "political zoo." At the same time, the communist is sure that the participation of Mrs. Sobchak in the elections "does not prevent the candidate from the Communist Party, as Mikhail Prokhorov did (he scored 7.98% .-" Kommersant ") in the past campaign." The State Duma's deputy speaker from the LDPR Igor Lebedev is sure that Mrs. Sobchak "will not compete with the LDPR candidate": the party is preparing to expose Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Deputy "Yabloko" Nikolai Rybakov told Kommersant that "Ksenia Sobchak can count on a glamorous electorate for whose votes Yabloko is ready to compete with it." "But in terms of changing the regime, Xenia can not be our competitor, because it has contributed to the" cementing "of the regime, which is held at the expense of young citizens who believe that if there are glossy magazines and nightclubs, then the country is moving in the right direction, "Mr. Rybakov is sure. "Yabloko" intends to expose a candidate Grigory Yavlinsky.

Chairman of Parnassus Mikhail Kasyanov, who was nominated for presidential elections in 2008 (he was refused registration) and previously announced that he will not participate in the elections in 2018, told Kommersant that "everyone has the right to participate in elections": "I was always for free elections. And with Alexei Navalny, she has a slightly overlapping electorate. " The same opinion is shared by Irina Khakamada, who ran for presidency in 2004 (she gained 3.8%). "The electorate of Xenia and Alexei Navalny does not match: Alexei has fans of his leader, and Xenia is more calm. If Xenia will vehemently criticize the authorities and urge everyone to vote for themselves, the Kremlin is completely unprofitable, "she believes.

Opportunities for candidate Sobchak to collect voter signatures (self-nominated - 300 thousand), party members assessed differently. "A person who has never engaged in political activities will not be able to collect signatures without the support of an administrative resource," Igor Lebedev told Kommersant. Irina Khakamada told "Kommersant" that, from her experience, "it's very difficult to collect signatures, even if you have a super-positive image." According to Mikhail Kasyanov, "if Ksenia Sobchak has a team, she can collect signatures without any problems." Ms. Sobchak's spokeswoman Ksenia Chudinova told Kommersant that one of the options is "nomination from the party". In this case, Mrs. Sobchak will need to collect 100 thousand signatures.

Director of the Levada Center Lev Gudkov believes that Ksenia Sobchak is nominated as the spoiler of Alexei Navalny. "Her figure can create some kind of appearance of a political ballet, but it will not create real competition," he told Kommersant. The head of the Center for Political Technologies, Boris Makarenko, also told Kommersant that there are no prospects for serious competition to Vladimir Putin, if he decides to run, Ksenia Sobchak does not. "But since it is public and recognizable, it will not be perceived as a puppet candidate," he believes. The head of the holding "Minchenko Consulting" Yevgeny Minchenko believes that Mrs. Sobchak can gain up to 10% of the votes, because "there is a niche of a new candidate who has nothing to do with the already annoyed characters." Lev Gudkov believes that "a female candidate can be bribed by a social orientation, an emphasis on health care, medicine, and not on military-militaristic spheres, from which the people are tired."

In September, the Levada Center asked which of the public figures or politicians among women could be president. 32% of respondents said that there is no suitable candidate for the Russian Federation. 16% said that "against the participation of women in the presidential election", 39% found it difficult to answer. About Xenia Sobchak remembered 0.4% of respondents. Sociologist VTsIOM Stepan Lvov believes that the result "depends on the candidate and on his program" and "no gender binding". According to him, VTsIOM did not measure the popularity of Ksenia Sobchak.