Ksenia Sobchak, a famous Russian television host, has declared her presidential bid for next year's election.
The 35-year old Sobchak said in a YouTube video Wednesday that she decided to run for president in March's election, The Associated Press reported.
The celebrity TV host is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, the reformist St. Petersburg mayor in the early 1990s. She had joined anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 but she has avoided criticizing President Vladimir Putin, who once worked as her father's deputy.
Putin hasn't yet said whether he would seek re-election but he's widely expected to run.
When rumors about Sobchak's bid first appeared, opposition leader Alexei Navalny warned her that she would play into the Kremlin's hands by splitting the opposition if she enters the race. Navalny is the most prominent Putin challenger.
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