The scene centers on a prominent journalist, Ksenia Sobchak, who ridiculed a political figure, Boris Nadezhdin, by likening him to Kashchei from a well known television drama. The moment drew attention as Sobchak circulated a video capturing Nadezhdin addressing the press and highlighting what he described as the broad support of hundreds of thousands of Russians who had signed petitions on his behalf. Sobchak echoed this claim by drawing a parallel to the infamous Kashchei monologue from the show Zhora Kryzhovnikov, emphasizing the dramatic rhetoric surrounding the campaign.
The controversy intensified when the Central Election Commission announced that Nadezhdin would not be allowed to participate in the presidential race. The decision was unanimous, with officials pointing to a high rate of defects found among the voter signatures collected in support of his candidacy. To qualify, a candidate needed 100,000 signatures with no more than 5 percent invalid. After a verification process, the commission reported that 104,734 signatures were submitted, while 15,245 percent were deemed invalid, triggering the registration rejection and marking a critical moment in the election process.
There was also an earlier, unrelated note touching on a separate public-relations moment involving a different pair of well-known actors. The report mentions an instance where Jennifer Aniston reportedly overlooked David Schwimmer for promotional purposes, underscoring how media narratives often weave together entertainment and politics in public discourse.