Vladimir Putin's secret family

Little is known about Vladimir Putin's personal life. The Russian president is notoriously guarded when it comes to his family but that hasn't stopped investigations into rumours of illegitimate children and unconfirmed marriages.

Putin's only public relationship was with his former wife Lyudmila Putina, whom he married in July 1983, when he was still a KGB officer. Lyudmila was often seen at official events but, although she and Putin had two daughters, Maria and Katerina, the Russian president has "never publicly acknowledged them" and has "never been seen in public" with them, said The Telegraph.

Mr and Mrs Putin announced their separation in 2013. Since then, Putin is said to have had two secret sons with former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. Putin's relationship with Kabaeva has never been confirmed, although both were "seen wearing wedding rings at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics". Last year, an investigation by The Dossier Center, "founded by former oligarch and opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky", revealed some details about the two boys, and named them as Ivan, and Vladimir Jr.

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'Very sheltered existences'

Putin's sons "can't be found in state databases" because, according to Khodorkovsky, "they have the kind of cover documents typically made for spies", said Newsweek.

Elder son Ivan was born in 2015, and Vladimir Jr. in 2019, The Dossier Center report revealed, and they live an "isolated life at a variety of presidential residences", only travelling in chauffeured cars or on yachts, private helicopters and jets.

The Kremlin has "repeatedly shut down" rumours of the 71-year-old president's relationship with Kabaeva, said Newsweek. And, while her children are "afforded every luxury in life", they live "very sheltered existences" under close federal guard, said The Mirror.

Putin is said to be frustrated with his inability to "protect his children from Western influence", with Ivan enjoying Disney cartoons and "pretending to be their characters" to the "displeasure of his parents", according to The Dossier Center report.

Both boys apparently have private tutors and personal trainers. Ivan plays ice hockey and has competed in several artistic gymnastics competitions, said the Moscow Times, adding that The Dossier Center report described his results as "not promising".

'Lavish lifestyles'

More is known about Putin's older girls, though their connection to their father remains "shrouded in secrecy", said The Telegraph.

Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova are now both in their late 30s, and Maria reportedly has one child. Putin confirmed to "filmmaker Oliver Stone in 2017 that he was a grandfather", said Business Insider, though he is "very seldom" able to play with him.

Maria studied biology, "attended university under a false identity" and has worked as a endocrinology researcher. She is married to a Dutch businessman and, in 2019, became a "shareholder" in Nomeko, a company developing a multi-million-dollar medical centre near St Petersburg, said Moscow Times.

Katerina, who took Asian Studies at college, also under a false name, was "an accomplished rock and roll dancer", said Business Insider. She is now reported to be a tech executive, and has split from her Russian billionaire husband.

'Affair with a cleaner'

Putin is also thought to have another daughter – from an affair he had with a former "cleaner" (and now multi-millionaire) named Svetlana Krivonogikh in the late 1990s, said The Telegraph. Krivonogikh and Elizaveta regularly "regularly posted images of their glamorous jet-set lives on social media", and her "uncanny resemblance to Putin" was hard to miss.

But when Elizaveta was tracked down in Paris by Russian media outlet Proekt in 2020, she "refused to answer when asked if she was Putin’s daughter" and when Proekt published the interview, "Russia's state media blocked the website". Elizaveta's Instagram has since been "deleted or hidden".