The woman being presented as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most high-profile opposition rival is on a charm offensive in Washington DC.

Ksenia Sobchak, the daughter of Putin's political mentor, has said she will run in Russia's presidential election in March.

She has been a figure in Russia’s pop culture since the early 2000s. But some are wondering whether she is simply a Kremlin-backed decoy.

Al Jazeera's Shihab Rattansi reports from Washington, DC.