The latest sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies target the two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin — Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova. Officials from the US said this has been done as the two could have control over some of their father’s assets. But, the Kremlin has expressed surprise at the West’s move as little is known publicly about the two women.
The Russian president has spoken little about his family life, and has remained of the steadfast opinion that his children as well as grandchildren should grow up as “normal citizens” and not as “princes or princesses”. The US treasury said Tikhonova is “a tech executive whose work supports… the Russian defense industry” while Vorontsova leads state-funded genetics research programmes “personally overseen by Putin”, according to a report by news agency AFP.
Both of Putin’s daughters are with his ex-wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva. In Putin’s official biography on the Kremlin’s website, his daughter Maria was born in 1985 before the family moved to Dresden where Putin served as a KGB agent. Katerina was born the next year.
Putin has referred to his daughters in rare remarks over the years, saying he was proud that both had received their university education in Russia, spoke several European languages and lived in the country as well. During a press conference in 2019, Putin declined to directly answer a question about his daughters’ growing business clout and their ties to the government, never actually acknowledging that Vorontsova and Tikhonova were his children and referring to them as simply “women.”
“I am proud of them. They continue to study and they work,” Putin said during another press conference several years earlier, adding, “they are not involved in any business activity and they are not involved in politics. They are not trying to push their way anywhere.”
Putin has given “security concerns” as the reason behind not disclosing anything about his family. He has grandchildren as well, but would not disclose how many. “I have grandkids, I am happy. They are very good, so sweet. I really enjoy spending time with them.”
Endocrinologist Maria
Russian media reports say Vorontsova is an endocrinologist involved in a large medical research company focused on cancer treatment with ties to the government. She leads government-funded programmes that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin toward genetics research, and are personally overseen by Putin, the US said.
Putin’s elder daughter, Maria studied biology at St Petersburg University and medicine at Moscow State University, according to the Reuters investigation. She is also heavily involved in genetic research work, which Putin has in the past described as a field that will “determine the future of the whole world”.
Media reports say she married Dutch businessman Jorrit Joost Faassen. She was pursuing a biomedical career specialising in the endocrine system in 2015, as a doctoral candidate at the Endocrinology Research Centre in Moscow, and is the co-author of a book about “idiopathic stunting” in children, the Reuters report said.
Her husband used to work for Gazprombank, a large lender with strong links to the elite around Putin, the report noted.
Rock ‘n’ roll Katerina
Surprisingly, younger daughter Tikhonova is a dancer-cum-mathematician. She is a professional acrobatic rock and roll dancer, who has taken part in prestigious international competitions. She is also a mathematician, who heads a science and technology foundation affiliated with Russia’s leading state university.
Videos from her tournaments show Tikhonova wearing glittery costumes and stepping onto her partner’s hands, being catapulted into the air for flips and somersaults.
“Katerina, 29, described herself as the spouse of Kirill Shamalov, son of Nikolai Shamalov, a longtime friend of President Putin,” the Reuters report said. “Shamalov senior is a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, which US officials have described as the personal bank of the Russian elite.”
Kirill and Katerina, as a couple, had corporate holdings worth about $2 billion, as per estimates provided to Reuters by financial analysts. This was in addition to other property and assets.
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