Who are Vladimir Putin's 2 daughters – and secret kids, and former ...

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s eldest daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, both appeared as speakers at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum last week.

While both sisters have attended the annual forum before, only Katerina has been a speaker, as per CNN. This year, however, they both took part in panels and their unprecedented dual public appearance has been seen as an indicator of the shifting dynamics within Russia’s political landscape.

Putin, 71, is famously secretive about his personal life. He has rarely publicly acknowledged his children, though media outlets have for years reported that he has two daughters with his ex-wife. He’s also rumoured to have had extramarital affairs that may have produced other children.

But as international pressure mounts on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, sanctions have closed in on his personal networks – and in particular, his children and rumoured girlfriends.

Just weeks before the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s rumoured girlfriend Alina Kabaeva praised the state’s war correspondents, saying their work is as effective as “a Kalashnikov”.

Here is what we know about the lives of Putin’s secret kids and partners:

Vladimir Putin’s ex-wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva

Putin had two daughters with his first wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva, a former flight attendant. Their daughters’ names are Maria and Katerina. Maria was born in St Petersburg in 1985, and Katerina was born in Germany, in 1986.

When the family moved to Moscow in 1996, the girls attended a German-language school. The children were reportedly removed from school when Putin became acting president and teachers educated them at home.

“Not all fathers are as loving with their children as he is,” Shkrebneva said in an undated quote on Putin’s government website. “And he has always spoiled them, while I was the one who had to discipline them.”

But as Putin gained political power, his children saw him less and less, according to one of his early biographers.

His first official biographer, Natalya Gevorkyan, interviewed him and his family in 1999. The family was soon isolated and surrounded by security after Putin became prime minister for the first time, she said. His daughters told her that they admired their father and were proud of him, but it appeared they didn’t get to see him much.

Putin’s marriage may also have been loveless. Gevorkyan said she had the impression Putin did not love her. She recalled Shkrebneva as saying: “There are women who are admired by men, I think I am not that kind of woman. He will not hold me in his hands.”

Putin and Shkrebneva announced their divorce in 2013, although they were likely living separate lives long before that. Shkrebneva had become “almost invisible” in Putin’s public life, according to professor of international affairs at New York’s New School, Nina Khrushcheva.

Putin was rumoured to be seeing Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, while Shkrebneva was believed to have begun dating businessman and triathlete Arthur Ocheretny by around 2010.

Putin’s eldest daughter, Maria Vorontsova

Maria, 39, studied biology before medical school, while Katerina majored in Asian Studies in college. Both girls attended university under false identities. Maria is a medical researcher. According to reports, she married Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen, although it’s unclear exactly when.

Maria and Faassen reportedly have a child, as Putin told filmmaker Oliver Stone in 2017 that he was a grandfather. When Stone asked if he played with his grandchild, Putin replied: “Very seldom, unfortunately.” The Putin Interviews was a four-part series that premiered on Showtime in May 2017.

Maria split with Faassen by 2022 and had a child with businessman Evgeny Nagorny, independent Russian media reported. Nagorny – who formerly showed an interest in opposition politics – has been flying around the world with Maria since at least 2016, according to a joint investigation by Russian outlets Meduza and Current Time.

The outlets reported Nagorny became the manager of major gas company Novatek, buying a luxury Moscow flat in the building pictured above in 2020.

Putin’s second daughter, Katerina Tikhonova

Meanwhile, Katerina, 37, reportedly lives a high-flying life, living in lavish flats and acquiring a fortune. She’s an accomplished acrobatic dancer and tech executive, and has a post overseeing Russian import substitutions. She also runs Innopraktika, one of the university’s initiatives to foster young scientists, as well as being deputy director of a mathematical institute there.

Katerina married Russian billionaire Kirill Shamalov in 2013, though they are reportedly no longer together. Their wedding was a lavish affair at the Igora resort in St Petersburg and it included a laser show, an ice-skating display and a mock Russian village, according to Reuters.

A 2023 investigation found that the couple, though married by a priest in an elaborate ceremony, never formalised their vows at the registry office, as required by the Russian Orthodox Church. The report suggested this was connected to the structure of the family’s vast and secretive property holdings.

By 2018, the pair had split, according to Bloomberg. Shamalov prospered during the marriage, racking up lucrative business interests. By the time he and Katerina separated, the divorce papers revealed they were worth US$2 billion. As early as 2016, the couple were hardly corresponding and Shamalov had seen lucrative shares in energy company Sibur returned to Putin’s friends, the same investigation reported.

Flight records suggest that in 2017, Katerina had begun a clandestine relationship with German ballet star Igor Zelensky and had a daughter with him. Zelensky has served as the director of the Bavarian State Ballet and the Munich State Ballet.

Katerina secretly flew to Munich more than 50 times to see Zelensky between 2017 and 2019, with their daughter in tow. The relationship was revealed by a 2022 investigation that examined Katerina’s flight records, showing that she travelled with members of Putin’s presidential secret service.

Putin’s rumoured twins with Alina Kabaeva

There are rumours that Putin has a third daughter with ex-girlfriend and former Russian rhythmic gymnast Kabaeva. It’s unclear exactly when Putin began dating the famed gymnast, but rumours were swirling long before he and Shkrebneva announced their divorce. In a 2008 news conference in Italy, a reporter asked him about the chatter, which Putin dismissed.

Kabaeva reportedly gave birth to twins in Moscow, in April 2019. Coincidentally, Putin personally awarded ­obstetrician Leyla Adamyan, who works at the Kulakov maternity clinic, the order “For Merit to the Fatherland” – one of Russia’s highest civilian medals.

Neither the child nor the relationship with Kabaeva have been confirmed by Russia.

After retiring from gymnastics, Kabaeva became an MP for the pro-Kremlin United Russia party until 2014. She went on to head up the country’s largest media conglomerate, the National Media Group.

Putin’s rumoured daughter with his cleaning lady

Reports have also surfaced that a former cleaning lady, Svetlana Krivonogikh, had an affair with Putin and suddenly moved into one of St Petersburg’s wealthiest neighbourhoods.

Independent investigations have reported that the pair had a close friendship between the late 1990s and the end of the 2010s, which resulted in a daughter. In that time, Krivonogikh went from a former cleaning lady to the billionaire owner of one of Putin’s favourite ski resorts.

Krivonogikh’s daughter, who was born in 2003, is named Elizaveta Vladimirovna Rozova and goes by Luisa. Identity papers do not indicate a father, but her middle name means “daughter of Vladimir”. She has not confirmed any relationship.

The Proekt investigation remarked on Elizaveta’s “phenomenal resemblance” to Putin and many connections between the president and her mother, but no relationship has been proven.

In a 2021 magazine interview, Elizaveta’s face was not depicted. When asked whether she looked like Putin, she agreed, but said “there are a lot of people similar to Vladimir Vladimirovich”, using an alternative, respectful name for Putin.

Putin’s attempt to shelter his children

Putin has tried to shelter his children from the media, attempting to keep them out of politics. Despite this, Katerina made her debut on Russian state TV as a biotechnology expert in December 2018. Her appearance did not include comments on her being related to Putin. The link was briefly made public during a dance competition, but later retracted.

In June 2021, Katerina addressed a conference that’s considered Russia’s equivalent of Davos – but nobody called her Putin’s daughter, apparently out of fear of reprisal from the Kremlin.

The US and UK sanction Maria and Katerina

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting condemnation from around the world. No statement came from Katerina or Maria, but scrutiny of their families ramped up.

In April 2022, the US sanctioned Maria and Katerina, saying that they had “enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people”. A White House statement said: “This action cuts them off from the US financial system and freezes any assets they hold in the United States.” The UK quickly followed suit, saying it was targeting Maria and Katerina’s “lavish lifestyles”.

The US announcement also contained more details about their work, saying that it has close ties to the Kremlin. Katerina’s work supports Russia’s government and defence industry, while Maria’s genetics research programmes are personally overseen by Putin, the White House said, believing the women were hiding assets for Putin, which was its rationale for sanctioning them. The Kremlin suggested the move was anti-Russian.

Since spring of 2022, the list of countries that have slapped sanctions on Maria and Katerina has only grown.

Katerina was given a top post overseeing import substitutions

In July 2022, as sanctions began to bite in Russia, Katerina was appointed to a position at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, known as RSPP. Putin critics speculated that the shake-up at RSPP, a key Russian business lobby, was done to help bolster the country’s lagging economy, which remains heavily dependent on imports and has suffered from the bevy of international sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine.

State media reporting on Katerina’s appointment didn’t mention her relationship to Putin.

The US added Alina Kabaeva to its sanctions list

In the summer of 2022, the US added Kabaeva to its sanctions list, citing her “close relationship” with Putin.

The US government had initially held off sanctioning Kabaeva on the basis that it would be too personal a provocation to Putin – a reservation that suggests the White House, at least, is in no doubt about their relationship.

But Kabaeva was finally sanctioned in August over her ties to the Russian government. In early February, Kabaeva made a rare speech at a media event, where she said Russia’s media is as powerful as a Kalashnikov rifle in war. Kabaeva made the speech to the National Media Group.

Her praise of “war correspondents” came just a couple of weeks ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Both daughters appeared at Russia’s economic forum in 2024

At the 2024 St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Katerina appeared virtually, commenting on the “technological sovereignty” of the nation’s military, CNN reported.

The following day, Maria spoke in person on a panel about biotech innovations. Programming listed her as a member of the Russian Association for the Promotion of Science, according to CNN.