Russian female presidential candidate attacked by a man
Russian TV star and presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak says she was attacked by a man ahead of this month's Russian election.
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| Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak. Photo: TASS |
“I was just attacked by a man. He pushed me and poured water on me and said ‘This is for Zhirinovsky.’ I called the police,” Ksenia Sobchak wrote on Twitter on March 4, referring to Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader and presidential candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). Sobchak is a popular TV star and candidate for the Civic Initiative party.
According to Ms. Sobchak's press office, the incident occurred when the Russian presidential candidate was leaving the Petroff Palace after attending an event to celebrate the birthday of former Soviet leader Mikahil Gorbachev. Security officers immediately detained the man who attacked Ms. Sobchak and handed him over to the police.
The Mash channel later released a video that it said was filmed by the attacker. The footage shows the attacker pouring water on Ms Sobchak without touching her, while information posted on the candidate's official website said that Ms Sobchak was pushed so hard that she fell to the ground. Ms Sobchak's press office identified the attacker as Alan Dzutsev.
Ms Sobchak said that her attacker was an assistant to the Chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Aleksey Shaposhnikov, a member of the board of the Russian Central Election Commission. However, Mr Shaposhnikov's press office denied this information.
The assailant’s mention of Mr Zhirinovsky’s name when approaching Ms Sobchak is believed to be related to the controversy that occurred during the recent debate between Russian presidential candidates. During the debate hosted by Russia’s Rossya 1 TV station on February 28, Ms Sobchak threw water in Mr Zhirinovsky’s face after being harshly criticized by her opponent.
The incident occurred during a live televised presidential debate. Ms. Sobchak’s angry actions have received mixed reactions from the public. Current President Vladimir Putin did not participate in the live debate because his entire election strategy was presented in his State of the Nation address on March 1.