The West has been wondering how to further thwart Russian military efforts without imposing a general oil embargo this week. One answer? To sanction the millionaire daughters of Vladimir Putin, Maria Vorontsova, 36, and Katerina Tikhonova, 35.
In a move that may be more symbolic than game-changing, the EU and Joe Biden have turned their attention to Putin’s family, especially his older daughters, whose lives have so far been shrouded in mystery. Unlike his former supporter and political counterpart Donald Trump, Putin is working hard to keep his offspring off the world stage, never acknowledging their existence, except telling director Oliver Stone in a 2017 interview that “they don’t interested in business or politics. ”
So who are Catherine and Maria and how could the sanctions affect them? At first glance, both daughters of the Russian strongman lead a seemingly “normal” life. Although their whereabouts are currently unknown, both girls were educated in the German city of Dresden, where Putin was stationed while working for the KGB, and excelled in their chosen professions; Katerina is a pediatric endocrinologist with an interest in dwarves, and Maria is the head of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at Moscow State University.
Despite working with white collars, Putin’s daughters with his ex-wife and former flight attendant, Lyudmila Putina, have no doubt benefited from their presidential ties. After graduating from high school at the German School in Moscow, the two girls continued to study at St. Petersburg State University under false names, where Rector Lyudmila Verbitskaya is a close personal friend of Putin’s. Maria studied biology before graduating in medicine from Moscow State University. While her younger sister Katerina studied Japanese history, she also completed a master’s degree in mathematics and physics from the Moscow State.
Katerina Tikhonova
/ Bloomberg via Getty Images
But their life is not just work and play, during her studies Katerina developed a passion for acrobatic rock’n’roll, an unusual form of dance involving stunts and gymnastics. She even continued to compete in several competitions, including the 2013 World Championships, where she placed fifth. Conveniently, after Katerina got involved in the sport, the municipal government funded the construction of 24 million pounds of state-of-the-art acrobatic rock’n’roll center in Moscow, which boasts a helicopter pad and swimming pool. Speaking to Reuters about the project, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any government involvement, saying it had “nothing to do with us”.
Since her somersault days, Katerina has discarded leotards in favor of more brainstorming, getting a job as director of Innpraktika, a $ 1.7 billion project to set up a research center at Moscow State University before being appointed head of the institute. artificial intelligence at the university in 2020. Meanwhile, Maria holds a doctorate in endocrinology from Moscow State University and is a co-owner of a Russian private investment company in healthcare called Nomenko.
But it wasn’t just their careers that were successful. Both daughters had good marriages. Maria married Dutch businessman Jorit Faassen in 2013, living with him in a penthouse in Voorschoten in the West Netherlands, before moving back to Moscow in 2014. The couple was expelled from the Netherlands after Dutch residents called for their expulsion after the downfall of Malaysia Airlines. flight MH17, which killed several Dutch residents and was widely suspected to be the work of the Kremlin.
Faassen, who now works for Russia’s energy company Gazprom, seems to have fallen in love with his powerful father-in-law. During a driving accident in Moscow in 2010, Faassen got into a quarrel with Russian banker Matvey Urin, who, unaware of his ties to Putin, ordered his bodyguards to beat up Dutch businessmen. Shortly after the incident, Urine was arrested and imprisoned for six years, and all six of his banks were declared bankrupt.
Katerina married the billionaire son of one of Putin’s close friends Kiril Shamalov. The society’s wedding in 2013 took place in the Russian ski resort of Igor, and the guests present vowed to keep it a secret. A year after the wedding, Putin’s great friend and Katerina’s new father-in-law, Nikolai Shamalov, received 17 percent from Russia’s largest petrochemical company, Sibur.
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Although Katerina and Shamalov Jr. separated in 2018, according to Bloomberg, the couple cost about $ 2 billion, and their total assets include a 2.8 million British holiday home in Biarritz, which was taken over by pro-Ukrainian scooters after the Russian invasion.
The potential sanction for Putin’s daughters comes after the assets of several other high-ranking Russian oligarchs were frozen by the EU and the United Kingdom last month, including notorious Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, Andrei Kostin, chairman of Russia’s VTB Bank and Putin’s right. Igor Sechin ‘s husband. But sanctions received a new boost this week after the bodies of more than 300 civilians shot at close range were found in a mass grave in Bucha.
Zelensky, meanwhile, has repeatedly called on EU and US states to impose a total ban on Russian oil and coal, stressing that he “cannot tolerate any indecision” from the West.
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