Ksenia Sobchak has proved an inscrutable figure in Russia, both for the authorities, to whom she is linked by family and fortune, and the opposition, to whom she is linked thanks to her own efforts as a self-styled anti-Kremlin figurehead.  As has been documented at several occasions, Sobchak was subject to considerable scrutiny by the opposition when she first made her overtures towards it.  This year however, as the Kremlin has become increasingly unforgiving towards dissidents, Russia’s ‘Paris Hilton’ as she is (fondly or pejoratively) dubbed, has taken an increasing amount of heat.  The latest example of course, is the seizure of $1.7 million from her apartment during a police raid, and the less-than-enticing possibility of a tax evasion investigation.  The New York Times has a particularly expansive profile of the woman who can claim 470,000 Twitter followers, which may give some indication of just how influential she is: