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Leka-D
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A few days ago, information appeared that Ksenia Sobchak’s phone had been hacked and her personal correspondence with many representatives of Russian glamor and show business was in the public domain. Correspondence and photos of an intimate nature were saved in the WhatsApp mobile application (Whatsapp in Russian), which, according to experts in the field of computer security, has problems with information protection and confidentiality. It is interesting that Ksenia Sobchak conducted conversations on rather sensitive topics. Intimate photos of Maxim Vitorgan, as well as Ksenia herself, have become publicly available. Sobchak’s interlocutors were designer Ulyana Sergienko (or Sergeenko), Veronica Belotserkovskaya, and a number of media representatives, both Russian and foreign. Sobchak somehow speaks with sadness about her former men (Shusterovich, Savitsky), one gets the impression that she regrets missed opportunities. As they say, it didn’t work out. Naturally, most of the correspondence consists of squabbles between representatives of the “glamorous serpentarium” regarding who is friends with whom and against whom, who is going where and with whom, who was not invited to the event, and so on. All this correspondence, fragments of which we will not present here for ethical reasons, resembles the communication of teenagers, not adult women. In the photo from left to right: Veronica Belotserkovskaya, Ksenia Sobchak, Ulyana Sergienko The glamorous party chose not to publicly respond to the leak of information, although the files had already been deleted from many Internet resources, but the information naturally spread across the Internet, including photographs. The only one who publicly reacted to this incident was Victoria Bonya. Bonya was discussed in correspondence for quite a long time, accused of wearing counterfeits, which is no secret to anyone. Bonya commented on her Instagram that “it’s clear to her who didn’t let her into the shows,” but she forgives her offenders. True, Victoria very quickly deleted her post, explaining in the comments to subscribers that she did this at Sobchak’s request. Victoria had previously stated about “bullying” from Sobchak, perhaps Boni had fears that the “harassment” could resume. Of course, such a leak of information was organized on someone’s order, but this correspondence does not contain anything fundamentally new for the public; it simply confirms what most already guessed. Someone decided that this was a fake, a forgery, with the aim of compromising Ksenia Sobchak, but there is too much information, dates are stamped, the photographs also look real. It’s amazing why you need to correspond by phone, especially on “sensitive” topics (“powder”, financial issues), when all the characters in this serpentarium can communicate in real life on pressing topics.
The same rake: why Ksenia Sobchak runs away from men
Ksenia Sobchak // Photo: Legion-Media
She herself does not deny that attention is flattering. And the project needs advertising. Therefore, the love triangle in which Sobchak found herself could not have come at a better time. The main version is this: Ksenia left her husband for director Konstantin Bogomolov. The couple often flies abroad, and they don’t try to hide in Moscow. But the TV presenter is still a married lady. “We have been living separately for quite a long time, each with our own lives, we do not share property, much less a child,” Sobchak and Vitorgan recently said, adding fuel to the fire. Ksenia and her son Platon live in a country house, Maxim, apparently, in a Moscow apartment. At every convenient opportunity, he sees the heir. Nevertheless, those around the couple assure that they will play and “make peace.” And no one has filed for divorce yet.
Ksenia and Maxim got married in February 2013 // Photo: Andrey Kalmykov/ Woman.ru
Relationships on the barricades
The star already had experience in PR novels. Remember, before her sudden wedding to Maxim Vitorgan, she allegedly had an affair with oppositionist Ilya Yashin. We met in line at the podium, at a time when protest marches were in trend. Just six months after “breaking up” with the politician, Ksenia suddenly married Vitorgan. Observing the history of her relationships with men, it is difficult to believe that the ex-presidential candidate is capable of such reckless actions.
Ilya Yashin and Ksenia Sobchak // Photo: Legion-Media
The first time the celebrity was one step away from getting married was back in 2005. Sobchak dated businessman Alexander Shusterovich, who was involved in the supply of uranium from Russia to the United States, for three whole years. He proposed, the couple planned a luxurious celebration in the palace - the script was written by Ksyusha herself. But a week before the important date, the bride ran away. They assumed she was not yet ready for family life, because at that time the host of “Dom-2” was only 24 years old. And only many years later Sobchak explained: “I had a highly paid job, but it was supposedly not needed, because there is a billionaire who is asking me to get married. “Why work hard all August when there is a villa in Saint-Tropez. Please, here’s three times more money for you.” And suddenly I realized that it was the filming that was important.”
TV presenter with businessman Alexander Shusterovich // Photo: PhotoXPress.ru
One of the most discussed was Ksenia’s romance with State Duma deputy Sergei Kapkov. What added spice to the relationship was the fact that the politician was married at that moment and had two children. The couple hid for a long time. And now Ksenia finds herself in the same situation: running with her legal spouse on dates with Bogomolov. True, after some time Kapkov left his family, lost weight and was planning to call Sobchak down the aisle. But that one seems to have already burned out.
“I was the initiator of the break with Ksenia,” said the politician // Photo: Sergey Milansky
Love the score
Their separation brought a lot of dividends to both Vitorgan and Sobchak. The same goes for the third member of the triangle. Ksenia barely has time to post on Instagram all the hot advertising posts that have fallen in, each of which adds from 500 thousand to a million rubles to her wallet. Maxim, who previously had significantly fewer orders, does the same. And here at once is a status bank, and expensive pens, and alcohol, and a cellular operator. The actor’s pricing policy, however, is much lower - about 200 thousand, but still. By the way, there is also a director’s premiere on the horizon - the play “In the City of False Dmitrov”. In the meantime, Bogomolov released the series “Kept Women,” in which Sobchak starred in one of the episodes, and is preparing several theatrical projects at once.
Ksenia with Konstantin Bogomolov // Photo: Still from the program
What to do?
Probably, these elections as a whole are not the best choice; in them, the competition for the main candidate consists of those who have long been an eyesore for voters, unable or unwilling to change anything, and those who want changes will apparently not be able to take part in them and perhaps they can achieve it. These are not the kinds of choices we see in our aspirations for the future. But only we ourselves can fix this. Each of us can and must declare our position, our disagreement with the government, which wants a quarter-century of irremovability, disagreement with collapsing education and healthcare, with the monstrous corruption and propaganda that has permeated the entire society - from rural schools to the Kremlin, with the widespread dominance of the security forces, with war, with international isolation.
For this conversation, we must use all opportunities - communication at home and at work, discussions on social networks, rallies and elections at all levels. Social changes will not happen without the majority realizing their necessity. And yes, I repeat, we must use these elections both to publicly discuss the shortcomings of our government and to improve the skills of our opposition. We must not ignore elections as an institution, as the main instrument of public representation - the basis of real democracy, even despite the fact that, in fact, over the past decades it has never been used as it should be, because truly free elections are not only fair voting, but free and equal access to participation and campaigning, accurate counting and results accepted by society. The March elections won't be like that either. They didn't anymore. But should we ignore them, boycott them? No. We must prepare to participate in them and change them with our participation, collect signatures, demand registration, and vote. This is exactly how the brightest and most consistent representatives of the opposition are already acting. In order to win a marathon, you need to train, participate, and demand fair judging.
Elections of municipal deputies have just taken place in Moscow. In some areas, the opposition noticeably squeezed out the party in power, and in others it completely won. Probably, if the turnout had been higher, the opposition's results would have been even higher. All the major opposition forces called on Muscovites to go to the polls, despite the complete information blockade by the authorities. Did these forces, or rather, did we, Muscovites, expect that these elections would be fair? No! But we hoped to make them like this. The best of us - by our participation. The rest - by their arrival.
Would you say that presidential elections are structured differently? That, given a predetermined result, the authorities are interested in increasing turnout, in creating the appearance of legitimacy? And I ask you - what difference does it make what the authorities are interested in? What matters is what we want. It is precisely in contrast to the authorities that we must be consistent in our beliefs and actions: elections are the most important institution of democracy, and we must use any political and social occasion to discuss the situation in which society finds itself and demonstrate our disagreement.
Is boycotting elections, non-participation in them in the event of refusal to register as candidates by prominent opposition figures and, of course, first of all Alexei Navalny, the right way to demonstrate one’s disagreement? In my opinion, no. Non-participation in elections, the silence of the dissatisfied during such a boycott is mixed with the indifferent silence of the lazy; it does not allow us and the entire society to see the real number of dissenters who want renewal and change. Having refused a legal and safe, but such a significant manifestation of our will as participation, albeit in controlled, imperfect, even dishonest elections, we leave ourselves no choice other than street confrontation, which, obviously, is not suitable for everyone and which, of course, must to be an extreme and exceptional measure of political struggle. Recent history knows many cases when elections and plebiscites supposedly controlled by authoritarian authorities turned into occasions and tools for genuine democratic changes. This always happened when the opposition participated in the elections, and never when it silently did not participate.
In the even more dramatic days of October 1993, a legal method of “active boycott” of elections appeared in Russia, which is what some of our opposition is calling for - a presidential decree was adopted on the introduction of the “Against all” column in elections at all levels in Russia.
This is a legal and completely peaceful instrument for expressing civil dissatisfaction with the election procedure, the composition of participants, and the irremovability of power. Many years ago, the government, which treats electoral legislation as a drawbar depending on its tactical needs, deprived us of this tool. By participating in the March presidential elections, I want to return it. Ksenia Sobchak in your ballot is the “Against all” column. Are you against the fact that for many years only Zyuganov, Yavlinsky, Putin and their faceless backups and deputies are on the list? Do you want to show your active position, but your candidate is not allowed to participate in the elections? Don't have your own candidate? Tag Sobchak. You don't elect her for president. You simply have a legal and peaceful opportunity to say: “Enough! Got it!”
