Rare photos of Vladimir Putin’s two “secret” daughters have emerged, revealed by a former right-hander who has just lost a $ 12 billion lawsuit against Russia, according to reports.
Maria and Katerina, long thought of as the daughters of the Russian president from his first marriage to Lyudmila Putin, are seen in a series of photos from when they were teenagers.
Neither has confirmed to be the offspring of the Russian leader, and even in December, Putin deflected questions that would confirm his identity.
The images were posted on the website of Sergei Pugachev, a former billionaire confidant who once claimed to the Financial Times that he “personally brought Putin to power.”
Pugachev later fled his homeland, however, when he was charged with serious legal charges for an alleged Ponzi-style scam with a bank he owns. After fleeing abroad, he tried to sue Russia for $ 12 billion for allegedly expropriating his assets, a claim that the Hague International Court of Arbitration declined to consider this week, Pugachev confirmed, while vowing to go ahead.
Fully aware of his former friend’s strict secrecy about his family, Pugachev posted the images of the then-teens with their own children, writing: “Young friendship is forever!”, According to Russian OpenMedia, which first reported on the images.
Both are now in their 30s, but the photos show the president’s daughters both inside the Kremlin and at Pugachev’s home near Moscow.
A photo shows them at a private party with pop group Strelki, nicknamed the Russian Spice Girls, the band confirmed to OpenMedia.
Both are from her first marriage to former Aeroflot flight attendant Lyudmila Shkrebneva, which lasted 30 years before their 2013 divorce.
Maria, 35, who uses the surname Vorontsova, has a career in medical research and is reportedly married to a Dutch businessman with whom she has a family, making Putin a grandfather.
Katerina, 33, known by her maternal grandmother’s surname, Tikhonova, was a competitive rock and roll dancer who is now believed to be spearheading a new Russian artificial intelligence initiative.
She was previously married to Russia’s youngest billionaire, Kirill Shamalov, 38, but divorced in 2018.
Putin in 2015 surprised people when he spoke about how “proud” he was of his daughters, saying they spoke multiple languages, but without confirming their identities.
“I never discuss questions related to my family. They are not involved in business or politics. They are not pushing for this, ”he said at a press conference at the time.
Putin is also known to have a family with Alina Kabaeva, who has at least two children with the former Olympic gymnast, but is equally reserved about them.
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