Story By:  Elena Kalioglo, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN

Vladamir Putin’s goddaughter who reportedly fell out with the Russian leader after she stood against him in a presidential race is to get married.

Kseniya Sobchak, 37, has a connection with the Russian president that came through her father Anatoly Sobchak, who was the mentor and teacher of both former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin.

Anatoly was the first democratically elected Mayor of St Petersburg, where Putin was born, and was also a professor of law when he first met and became friends with Putin.

His daughter Kseniya used her famous connections to become a media celebrity, presenting the country’s longest-running TV series Dom-2 before she decided to launch a political career.

Picture Credit: CEN, CEN/@xenia_sobchak & CEN/@konbog75

Her prominence among the country’s opposition even led to her attending the National Prayer Breakfast with president Donald Trump in Washington earlier this year, together with other Russian politicians. Many have said that her close family ties with Putin allowed her more leeway than many other opponents.

She was previously married to actor and director Maxim Vitorgan, with whom she has a son called Plato, last year, shortly before she started appearing in public with theatre director Konstantin Bogomolov.

Although there has been no official announcement about the relationship or the planned marriage, he recently told local media that he was “really in love”, adding “I am very happy, I know that for me it will be forever…”

Video Credit: CEN

The veiled reference to marriage was then confirmed in Russian media when a video invitation to the wedding on 13th September was leaked to the Russian media.

In the video, Bogomolov and Sobchak, holding hands, are seen jumping from a bridge into the sea.

But despite that the couple are still remaining tight-lipped, and Ksenia’s mother Lyudmila Narusova confirmed: “If even I say anything, Ksenia will tell me off.”

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.