The telegram said:
“Dear Lyudmila Borisovna and Ksenia,
The news of Anatoly Sobchak’s death came to me as a profound shock. Please accept my heartfelt condolences.
It is impossible to come to terms with our loss. Mr Sobchak was my close friend and Master. He not merely shared the essentials of his profession with me but exemplified to me integrity and firmness as he stood up for his convictions.
A true St Petersburg intellectual, a man of brilliant education, he never shied away from expressing his views. An impassioned public speaker, he was one of those people who raised high the standards of the parliament’s work. Anatoly Sobchak will go down in history as a political activist who stood at the cradle of the new Russian state and its Constitution. St Petersburg owes him not only its regained name of the city of Peter the Great but also the rebirth of its inimitable look and spirit.
Dear Lyudmila and Ksenia,
I know what a tragedy has befallen you, and what courage these grim days demand of you. Many who knew Anatoly Sobchak share your bereavement”.
Vladimir Putin also forwarded a telegram of condolence to Maria, Anatoly Sobchak’s elder daughter.