Borodino, Russia
President Vladimir Putin is descended from serfs who belonged to relatives of the first royal czars, a Moscow genealogist has found. At Putin’s request, genealogist Vladimir Melnikov traced the president’s family back as far as he could: 13 generations. The earliest ancestor he found was Yakim Nikitin, a peasant who lived on Romanov land in the early 1600s with his sons, Faddei, Frol, and Tit. Had Putin’s ancestors belonged to a lesser noble, there would have been few extant records.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Pope seeks inquiry on if Gaza assault is 'genocide'Speed Read In a book for the Jubilee 2025, Pope Francis considers whether Israel's war in Gaza meets the legal definition of 'genocide'
-
Can Europe pick up the slack in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Trump's election raises questions about what's next in the war
-
Biden allows Ukraine to hit deep in RussiaSpeed Read The U.S. gave Ukraine the green light to use ATACMS missiles supplied by Washington, a decision influenced by Russia's escalation of the war with North Korean troops
