Investigation reveals rare details of private lives of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters

Little is known about the Russian strongman’s daughters, Maria and Katerina, born in 1985 and 1986 in Dresden, where President Putin worked in intelligence.
The news agency revealed Katerina now goes by the surname Tikhonova adopted from her grandmother and is married to Kirill Shamalov — son of Nikolai Shamalov, who is a close friend of the President and senior shareholder in Russia’s elite Bank Rossiya.
The couple is thought to hold an estimated $2.83 billion worth of shares in petrochemical company Sibur Holdings. That’s on top of a four-storey property in the French seaside resort of Biarritz estimated to be worth around $5.24 million, according to the architect who renovated the property seven years ago.
Katerina also holds a senior position at Moscow State University where she has quickly climbed the ranks of the Mechanics and Mathematics facility, publishing scientific papers and authoring chapters in books. She was appointed deputy vice rector in March 2015 and directs two major foundations; the National Intellectual Development Foundation (NIDF) and the National Intellectual Reserve Centre (NIRC).
A joint project from the two called Innopraktika, concerned with developing young scientists in the country, includes advisers who are close associates of the President from his days working in Russia’s intelligence agency the KGB. Outside of work, she chairs the All Russian Acrobatic Rock‘n’Roll Federation.
Much less was revealed about Putin’s other daughter Maria, who also studied at Moscow State University and is now thought to be married to a Dutch Businessman and going by the name Maria Faassen.
University and company executives would not comment on the findings however Russian Federation Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said they have “no information” about Katerina Tikhonova, her personal life or family connections.
“In recent years there has been an enormous quantity of gossip on the subject of the family ties of V. Putin, and, in particular, his daughters. The proportion of accurate information in all these publications is laughably small,” he said.
The fascinating insight provides a new perspective on Russia’s elite and how it operates. It’s at odds with the President’s carefully cultivated image of himself as a modest man of the people born to a soldier and housewife who grew up on a diet of soup and pancakes.
“I come from an ordinary family, and this is how I lived for a long time, nearly my whole life. I lived as an average, normal person and I have always maintained that connection,” he recalls on his personal website.
The student with an “agile mind” grew up to study law and work in counterintelligence and state security for the KGB but has disclosed little about his private life. His wife Lyudmila said he loves his two daughters very much according to a statement online.
“Not all fathers are as loving with their children as he is. And he has always spoiled them, while I was the one who had to discipline them,” she said.
The President’s official earnings show he earned a salary of just $168,000 and public records show he owns just two apartments. That’s despite constant speculation he is one of the world’s wealthiest men with a Black Sea resort known as “Putin’s Palace” partly funded by Nikolai Shamalov — the father of his daughter’s husband.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny told Reuters the rise is typical of the new breed of elites that are emerging in the country.
“Today in Russia, it is absolutely normal that the boards of directors at state banks are headed by children of security service officials, who aren’t even 30 years old when they are appointed,” he said.
“It is more than just a dynastic succession. Children don’t just inherit their parents’ posts, but also the right to choose any other post they fancy. The danger is that very soon all key resources will end up in the hands of five to seven families.”