Who are Putin's secret children?

MoscowJust like in so many other aspects, when it comes to managing the family nucleus, Vladimir Putin bears little resemblance to most world leaders. Between transparency and overexposure, the Russian president opts for extreme secrecy, which gives rise to mystery and rumors about extramarital affairs and illegitimate children. If the misfortunes of royalty are often the subject of the gossip press, in Russia investigative journalists are the ones who delve into the secrets of their head of state's most intimate circle. A tsar's life protected with the zeal of a spy.

Putin officially acknowledges only two daughters, who are around forty years old, from his only official marriage to Liudmila Putina, with whom he was married until 2013. Apart from this, however, several investigations claim he has fathered children on three other occasions: he has two school-aged children with his current partner and eternal lover, the former gymnast and Olympic medalist Alina Kabaeva, and he is also attributed the paternity of a young woman who lives in Paris and works in an art gallery.

The Paris gallerist

Putin's alleged Parisian daughter has three identities. The first, Elizaveta Krivonogikh, inherited from her mother, Svetlana Krivonogikh. In 2020, the investigative outlet Proekt revealed that this multimillionaire had built her fortune thanks to her relationship with the Russian president. According to the publication – which was blocked shortly after – they both met in the 90s in St. Petersburg, when she was studying, working as a cleaner, and living in a komunalka, a communal apartment from the Soviet era. Her circle recalls how, after graduating, thanks to a benefactor, her life changed drastically. With the birth of her daughter in 2003, she acquired shares in various companies, including a major Russian bank, and bought luxury properties in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Monaco. 

Elizaveta, who is now about 23 years old and bears an “extraordinary” resemblance to Putin, according to the investigation, studied cultural and artistic management at a private center in the French capital. She enrolled as Elizaveta Rudnova, the surname of a close friend of Putin who also had his mother's apartments in his name. The latest information suggests that the young woman is a manager in two Parisian art galleries that have exhibited anti-war art and art by Ukrainian artists. Previously, she had sporadically worked as a DJ under a third pseudonym, Louisa Rozova, and with the outbreak of the war, she decided to close her Instagram account due to the hateful messages she received against Putin. She has never confirmed that Putin is her father, but she has not denied it either, instead opting to evade the question. Lately, the rumors have gone viral on social media, especially among young people.

Two children in a bubble

Despite living in a bubble and with no photos of them together, more is known about Putin's two children with Kabayeva, thanks to a 2024 investigation by the Dossier Center project. The Russian president's relationship with this former gymnast, 29 years his junior, dates back at least to 2008, when the now-defunct Moskovski Korrespondent reported on it. The Kremlin denied it and shut down the newspaper. Since then, it has been a taboo subject that few have dared to comment on publicly. One of those who has is Volodymyr Zelensky, who in 2014, on Ukrainian television, dressed up as Kabayeva in a gag that ridiculed Putin.

The couple's eldest son, Ivan, was born in 2015 in Switzerland, and the younger, Vladimir Jr., in 2019 in Moscow. Both live with their mother at the presidential residence in Valdai, halfway between the Russian capital and Saint Petersburg. Putin spends time there and, in fact, had an office built that is a mirror image of the one he has in another official mansion in the Moscow region, from where he supposedly works when not at the Kremlin. The children use fake identity documents and are completely isolated, shielded by about twenty anti-aircraft defense systems and protected 24 hours a day by agents of the Federal Protective Service. They have personal tutors and coaches and, according to the investigation, when they participate in school sports competitions, it is Kabayeva's cousin who appears to be in charge.

The two legitimate daughters

The only two officially acknowledged daughters of Putin are Maria and Katerina. Maria is 41 years old, a pediatric endocrinologist, and dedicates herself to genetic research. Katerina, who is 39, was a ballet dancer and now leads digital innovation and artificial intelligence projects. Interestingly, the latter has a daughter with a Russian ballet master named Zelenski, who is not related to the Ukrainian president.

Despite the Kremlin leader acknowledging them, they have rarely been seen together, only in photographs from the 90s when he was a KGB officer and they lived in Dresden, East Germany. And, although both develop their professional activities under the state's umbrella, neither of them uses their father's surname. Maria goes by Vorontsova, and Katerina by Tikhonova. “I know that Western political culture implies that family members should be in the spotlight, but I don't think we are in a situation where this theatricality is appropriate,” Putin once said, making it clear that in this too he seeks to differentiate himself from the West.