Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Credits: CEN/@xenia_sobchak
Vladimir Putin’s goddaughter has been slammed for joking to Russia’s Prime Minister that she has “had coronavirus” since she was a child but is “still up and running”.
TV host and Putin’s goddaughter Ksenia Sobchak, 38, wrote the message to Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin, 53, on her social media account.
She wrote: “Mishustin, my friend, I shouldn’t have closed the border. I’ve had coronavirus since I was a child but it’s ok, somehow I’m still up and running…”
She then asked her army of 7 million Instagram followers about their thoughts on coronavirus, asking if it was “the new plague of the 21st century” or “nothing but hysteria?”
Netizens were quick to criticise Sobchack, with ‘irbisina’ writing: “This is terrible sarcasm.”
And ‘oksana_bella_kovaleva’ added: “This is not funny. You shouldn’t joke like that.”
While ‘mynameishelen8’ commented: “People are dying, there is nothing funny about it.”
Sobchak also posted a bizarre video of her in white make-up which makes her look ill as she pulls faces at the camera.
Sobchak’s connection with Putin comes through her father Anatoly Sobchak, who reportedly mentored the Russian President and the former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Anatoly was the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg, where Putin was born, and was also a professor of law when he first met and became friends with the Russian leader.
His daughter used her famous connections to become a media celebrity, presenting the country’s longest-running TV series ‘Dom-2’ before deciding to launch a political career.
Her prominence among the country’s opposition even led to her attending the National Prayer Breakfast with President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. earlier this year, together with other Russian politicians.
Many have claimed that her close family ties with Putin allowed her more leeway than other political opponents.
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