Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian socialite and TV personality, has fled the country after being named as a suspect in an extortion case, state media reported on Wednesday.
A popular media personality and journalist, Sobchak is reportedly President Vladimir Putin's goddaughter. Her father, the late Saint Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, was once Mr Putin's boss.
Sobchak “departed Moscow during the night”, a police source told news agency Tass.
The source said she left Russia through Belarus to enter Lithuania.
Tass and state-run channel RT cited law enforcement sources as saying Sobchak was suspected of large-scale extortion, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The agency earlier said her villa outside Moscow was searched in connection with a case against her commercial director, Arian Romanovsky.
Putin's inner circle — in pictures
-
Head of Russia's SVR intelligence service Sergei Naryshkin has seen his status eroded by the strong resistance encountered in Ukraine, which he did not foresee. EPA -
Head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin has threatened to abandon a Nasa astronaut on the International Space Station. AFP -
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was one of the architects of Moscow's intervention in Syria. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russia's oil giant Rosneft chief Igor Sechin. He has been described as Mr Putin's right-hand man. AFP -
Secretary of Russia's Security Council Nikolai Patrushev attends a meeting in Moscow. He is said to have known Mr Putin for 50 years. AFP -
Sergei Ivanov, Russian special representative on questions of ecology and transport, is a close friend of Mr Putin. AFP -
Federal Security Service director Alexander Bortnikov is responsible for a huge network of agents in Russia. AFP -
At 58, president of the Duma Lower House of Parliament Vyacheslav Volodin is one of the younger members of the inner circle. He has been touted as a possible successor to Mr Putin. AFP
Sobchak has for years been involved in Russian opposition politics, though she remains a divisive figure among Mr Putin critics.
The 40-year-old ran for the presidency against Mr Putin in 2018, with Russian opposition politicians accusing her of being used by the Kremlin as a spoiler candidate.
Thousands of Russians have fled the country since Mr Putin launched an attack on Ukraine in February, with a second wave leaving after he announced a military mobilisation on September 21.
