After the invasion operation in Ukraine, many unknown things started to be investigated again, Russian President Vladimir Putin has always been protective and secretive when it comes to his family.
In a press conference in 2015, she dismissed the questions about her daughters as follows; “My daughters live in Russia and have always had their education in Russia. I am proud of them. They speak three foreign languages fluently. I don’t talk to anyone about my family. Everyone has the right to live their own destiny. They live their own life and do it with dignity.”
Putin may not have wanted to reveal the identities of his two daughters, but others did.
The names of 36-year-old Maria Vorontsova and 35-year-old Katerina Tikhonova are mentioned in the latest US sanctions against Russia.
“We believe most of Putin’s property is in the hands of his family members and that is why we are targeting them,” a US official said.
While little has been confirmed about Putin’s family life, documents, news reports, and official statements that have surfaced from time to time allow for a limited, albeit limited, portrait of Putin’s daughters.
Maria and Katerina are Putin’s daughters from his divorced wife Lyudmila.
When the couple got married in 1983, Putin was an agent of the KGB (intelligence and secret service of the Soviet Union) and Lyudmila was the stewardess.
Their marriage lasted 30 years, during which time Putin rose rapidly within the Russian political system.
The couple separated in 2013. “It was a joint decision, we see very little of each other, and we both have our own lives,” Putin said. Lyudmila, on the other hand, said that Vladimir Putin was “totally buried in his work”.
“PARTNER OF THE COMPANY TO BUILD THE MEDICAL CENTER”
Their eldest daughter Maria was born in 1985. She studied biology at St. Petersburg University and medicine at Moscow State University.
Maria Vorontsova is now an academic specializing in the endocrine system. He has a book on cases of stunted growth in children and is a registered investigator at the Endocrinology Research Center in Moscow.
But she is also a business woman. The BBC Russian service revealed that Maria Vorontsova is a partner in a company that plans to build a very large medical center.
Maria Vorontsova is married to Dutch businessman Jorrit Joost Faassen. Faassen once worked for Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant. There are reports that the couple has separated.
Those who spoke with Maria Vorontsova after the start of the invasion of Ukraine state that she supported her father in this regard and was skeptical of the reports in the international media.
“MARRIED TO THE SON OF PUTIN’S CLOSE FRIEND”
Putin’s younger daughter, 35-year-old Katerina Tikhonova, was much more visible than her older sister. In an international dance competition in 2013, she and her partner placed 5th.
That same year, Katerina married Kirill Shamalov, the son of a very old friend of Putin’s. Weddings in St. It was held at a ski resort near St. Petersburg. Hotel staff said the couple came to the wedding in a sleigh pulled by three white horses.
In 2018, Kirill Shamalov became one of the names that the US imposed sanctions for his role in Russia’s energy sector. The US Treasury stated that Shamalov’s assets “increased significantly after the marriage”.
However, this couple also broke up.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two Russian activists were detained in Biarritz, France, for occupying a luxury villa said to belong to Shamalov.
Like her older sister, Katerina Tikhonova is now both an academic and a businesswoman.
In 2018, he made a brief appearance in Russian state media and talked about neurotechnology. She was also spotted on a business forum in 2021, but in neither case was she specified as Putin’s daughter.
It is stated that the sisters do not spend much time with their father.
Putin also has grandchildren. Putin said in an interview in 2017 that he had grandchildren, but did not specify the number or which daughter they were from.
“As for my grandchildren… Someone has already started kindergarten. Please understand that. I don’t want them to grow up like royalty princesses. I want them to grow up as normal people,” she said.