Russian media figure flees to Lithuania

Russian media personality and former presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak speaks to reporters in Washington, DC in February 2018

Russian media personality and former presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak speaks to reporters in Washington, DC in February 2018

Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian media figure and the daughter of Vladimir Putin's mentor, has fled her country for Lithuania, border officials in Vilnius said Wednesday, after Russian news agencies reported that she had become a suspect in an extortion case.

Earlier in the day, Russia's TASS news agency reported that Sobchak had departed Moscow during the night, citing a police source that said she had travelled to Lithuania via Belarus.