SOBCHAK DESCRIBES PUTIN'S QUESTIONABLE ROLE IN HER BAPTISM
Portal-Credo.ru, 13 March 2018
The candidate for president of the Russian federation from the "Civil Initiative" party, Ksenia Sobchak, reported that the head of state, Vladimir Putin, did not take a direct part in her baptism. She described this in an interview with radio station Echo of Moscow on 12 March.
"Actually, I swear my baptism at the age of twelve was not some memorable event. For me it was a matter that Mama asked me to come at a certain time and stand in church for three hours for about an extra three wads [of chewing gum] . . . . Vladimir Putin was there, among others, but so far as my Mama says, he was not my godfather," Sobchak said.
She also added that she does not have personal contacts with the incumbent president. "I have met him only at sad anniversaries [of the death] of my father. I do not have any other ties with Vladimir Putin, and I didn't," Sobchak noted.
On 15 January in a live broadcast with radio Komsomolskaia Pravda Sobchak also stated that Putin was not her godfather. "Vladimir Vladimirovich worked with my Papa for many years, when he was mayor. But I was a small girl at the time; I was 7 and 8 years old," she said.
In October 2017, Lenta.ru recalls, Sobchak described how when she made the decision to run for president she met with Putin and told him about her intention. "He said that every person has the right to make one's own decisions and must take responsibility for them," Sobchak noted, adding that it seemed to her that he did not like this decision.
Sobchak announced her intention to try for the
supreme state
office on 18 October. The TV announcer declared that she was
trying to
substitute herself for the nonexistent ballot choice "Against
all."
The incumbent president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, declared his
intentions on 6
December. He will participate in the election as "self-nominated,"
and not from the United Russia party that fully supports him. (tr.
by PDS,
posted 13 March 2018)
KSENIA SOBCHAK SAYS SHE WAS BAPTIZED IN CHILDHOOD "FOR THREE WADS" IN VLADIMIR PUTIN'S PRESENCE
Novosti Sankt Peterburga, 13 March 2018
In an interview on Echo of Moscow, the journalist and presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak again had to comment on her childhood baptism in the early 1990s, which involved the former aide to her father who is now president of the Russian federation, Vladimir Putin.
"For me, baptism at age twelve was not any kind of event. I truly do not remember what happened there. For me it would be a kind of story that Mama asked me to come there at a certain time and to stand in church three hours for about an extra three wads. It was her very great kind of dream and request—that I be baptized," Sobchak noted.
She also commented on rumors that the future president, Putin, was present at the baptism and acted as a godfather. "Well, Vladimir Putin was there, among others, but so far as my Mama says, he was not my godfather. A priest baptized me, and some time later I learned that a priest, on rare occasions, is simultaneously a godfather too," the candidate noted.
She also added that she does not have personal contacts with the incumbent president. "I have met him only at sad anniversaries [of the death] of my father. I do not have any other ties with Vladimir Putin, and I didn't," Sobchak noted.
We recall that rumors that Putin may be in a direct and metaphoric sense Sobchak's godfather began actively circulating after her announcement of plans to run for president of the RF in October of last year. At the time Sobchak acknowledged that before making a public announcement of her intention she informed Putin about it when she met him in the Kremlin during filming of her documentary about her father, the former mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak. Sobchak affirmed that at the time she did not receive any kind of "permission" from the president to participate in the election.
The priest who baptized Sobchak, Hegumen Gury (Yuri Chezlov), who served in the Alexander Nevsky lavra, died in 2001. Previously bloggers obtained his biography, from which it emerges that he held to unique views. For example, he considered the computer to be Satan's creature and Xerox to be a product of God's providence, Newsru.com writes. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 March 2018)
KSENIA SOBCHAK DESCRIBES HOW MAMA PERSUADED HER TO BE BAPTIZED "FOR THREE EXTRA WADS"
Ksenia Sobchak, a candidate for the post of head of the Russian state, on air with radio station Echo of Mosow denied rumors that her godfather allegedly is the incumbent president of the RF, Vladimir Putin, and described significant details of the sacrament.
"The truth in this sense is very banal. Actually, I swear, for me baptism at age twelve was not some memorable event. . . . For me it was a story that Mama asked me to come at a certain time and stand in church for three hours for about three extra wads [of gum]. It was her great dream that I be baptized," Ksiusha informed radio listeners, specifying that as of that point in her life she was not a religious person.
"Vladimir Putin was there, among others, but as far as my Mama says, he was not my godfather," Sobchak added. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 March 2018)
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