Ksenia Sobchak

Ksenia Sobchak spoke about the scandal that the Norwegian consul Elisabet Ellingsen staged at the Azimut hotel in Murmansk.

The Mash telegram channel was the first to report on the conflict between the diplomatic department representative and the hotel staff. The reason for Ellingsen’s dissatisfaction was that, like other visitors, he was asked to wait for the maids to finish cleaning the room. However, the consul demanded that he immediately give him a number.

The official, who had a confrontation with the managers, said she came from Scandinavia and was used to cleaning rooms, unlike “a Russian woman who somehow cleans”. She also added that she “hates the Russians.”

Elisabeth Ellingsen at Azimut Hotel

Video footage of the event quickly went viral. Mash editors contacted the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but after hearing the words of the consul about hatred towards Russians, the girl from the press center hung up.

Ksenia Sobchak commented on the event on the telegram channel.

The police began checking Ellingsen’s statements. Under Russian law, the official faces a criminal case under the article “inciting hatred or enmity, as well as insulting human dignity.”

Later, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs nevertheless issued a statement regarding the statements of the consular employee in Murmansk.