The United States on April 6 added two of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters —Katerina (35) and Maria (36) — to the list of sanctioned individuals as part of the economic ostracization initiated by the West for the unprovoked war in Ukraine.
However, Katerina and Maria have never been confirmed to be the offspring of the former KGB spy, but they are believed to be his daughters from his marriage with former Aeroflot cabin crew Lyudmila. The marriage ended in 2013 with a divorce.
Putin has been always secretive about his children and there is no official count from Kremlin about his children. Neither have the two women confirmed to be the daughters of the most powerful person in Russia.
According to the US Department of Treasury Katerina was born in Dresden, Germany where Putin was posted as a KGB agent. Katerina according to a Reuters investigation use the surname of her maternal grandmother and has studied Maths and Physics. She has a master’s degree from Moscow State University.
The report had shown that she was holding a top position in academics at the Moscow State University in 2015 and was involved in public-funded projects where she was signing off multi-million dollar contracts. She is touted to be part of the Kremlin’s defence ecosystem.
In addition to this, she had caught the limelight for her participation in Rock ‘n’ Roll World Championship in the same year where she along with her partner emerged as the fifth-best.
She was also married to one of Russia’s youngest billionaires Kirill Shamalov for five years between 2013 and 2018.
Maria, on the other hand, is a medical doctor specializing in paediatric endocrinology. She is also involved in genetics research for the government. She was married to a Dutch businessman born in Russia named Jorrit Faassen.
Earlier, other than Russia’s sovereign assets, government officials, politicians, and super-rich oligarchs believed to be closely associated with Putin has faced the wrath of these economic sanctions. A major highlight of them is top-flight English football club Chelsea being snatched away from Roman Abramovich.