麻豆影视

Skip to main content

Who are Putin's daughters? Latest round of sanctions raises questions

Share

The latest round of U.S. sanctions laid against Russia has cast a spotlight on President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 family鈥攐ne that has long been shrouded in secrecy.

Putin鈥檚 adult daughters, 36-year-old Mariya Putina and 35-year-old Katerina Tikhonova, were named in the latest sanctions alongside Russian government officials and their family members Wednesday.

In targeting Putin鈥檚 daughters, the U.S. hopes to freeze any assets the Russian president may be hiding with them overseas. Though it is unclear what assets they could be holding, a U.S. government official tells CNN the practice was common among the Russian elite.

But little is known about Putin鈥檚 daughters, whom he rarely talks about.

In fact, their identities have never been confirmed by Putin or the Kremlin and their existence has sparked much speculation among the Russian and international communities. Here鈥檚 what we know:

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Officially, Putin has two children, Mariya and Katerina, from Putin鈥檚 marriage to Lyudmila Putina, a former Aeroflot steward whom he divorced in 2013.

In 2015, Putin, who has rarely spoken publicly about his daughters, shared some insight into their lives while shutting down speculation that they had fled the country.

Though he never shared their names or job titles, citing security concerns, he said at the time they had stayed clear of business and politics.

鈥淭hey live in Russia ... They have never been educated anywhere except Russia. I am proud of them, they continue to study and are working. My daughters speak three European languages fluently,鈥 he said at the annual press conference.

鈥淭hey have never been 鈥榮tar鈥 children, they have never got pleasure from the spotlight being directed on them. They just live their own lives.鈥

According to Reuters, Mariya was born in Leningrad, Russia in 1985, and Katerina was born in Germany in 1986 during her father's time in the KGB. Katerina uses her grandmother鈥檚 surname Tikhonova. Mariya has also been identified using the surname Vorontsova.

Tikhonova and Putina have never confirmed publicly that the Russian leader is their father. However, several investigations have linked the women to their father.

KATERINA TIKHONOVA

Tikhonova studied at Saint Petersburg State University and Moscow State University and has a master鈥檚 degree in physics and mathematics. Today, she is described as a 鈥渢ech executive whose work supports the GoR [Russian government] and defence industry,鈥 according to the U.S. government.

In 2014, she and her dance partner came in fifth in the world championships of acrobatic rock鈥檔鈥檙oll dancing.

Because Tikhonova and her sister were never identified in photographs with their father, it was actually footage from the competition compared with pictures from the website of Moscow State University that first helped to confirm her identity in 2015.

Tikhonova married Kirill Shamalov, the younger son of Nikolai Shamalov, a close confidant of Putin鈥檚 and co-owner of Rossiya Bank, which the U.S. has described as 鈥渢he personal bank鈥 of top Kremlin officials.

In 2015, that Kirill and Tikhonova would have corporate holdings worth about $2 billion, including a seaside villa in Biarritz, France, estimated to be worth about $3.7 million.

Tikhonova worked in various roles at Moscow State University and, in 2020, was appointed the head of a new artificial intelligence and intelligent systems institute at the university.

MARIYA PUTINA

Less is known about Putin鈥檚 eldest daughter, a pediatric endocrinologist, who is said to be studying the effects of hormones on the body. According to the U.S. government, Putina "leads state-funded programs that have received billions of dollars from the Kremlin toward genetics research and are personally overseen by Putin.鈥

Putina studied biology at Saint Petersburg State University and medicine at Moscow State University. According to Reuters, she co-authored a book about idiopathic stunting in children in 2015.

Putina married Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen in 2013 and has also been identified under her married name.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.

Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.

Local Spotlight

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.