Russian Presidential Hopeful Sobchak Compares Debates to First Circle of Hell

While meeting with her supporters, Russian Presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak from the "Civic Initiative" political party compared the televised debates with the first circle of hell, adding that the presidential campaign was "very difficult and dirty."

Sobchak stated that if someone asks her, whether she knows, what hell is, she will answer that she has "at least an understanding of what the first circle of hell looks like. This circle is those debates that were held during the 2018 presidential campaign," Sobchak added.

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During the presidential debates, that began on February 26 and were aired on TV, Sobchak got into several scrapes with other candidates. During one of the debates last month, following a number of insults from Liberal Democratic candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Sobchak decided to "cool down" her opponent by pouring a glass of water on him. However, the move worked conversely and the Liberal Democratic candidate launched into a renewed and even more explicit tirade against Sobchak.

In the most recent case earlier this week, Sobchak burst into tears and left the studio, following the constant interruptions from other candidates, primarily from Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

The Russian presidential election will be held this Sunday, March 18. Russians will choose the next president of the country from among the following candidates: Sergey Baburin from the All-People's Union party, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, incumbent President Vladimir Putin, Civic Initiative party candidate Ksenia Sobchak, Communists of Russia party chairman Maxim Suraykin, Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights Boris Titov, co-founder of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky and head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky.