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Who is Polina Kovaleva? Crowds chant 'MURDERER' outside UK home of Russian minister's stepdaughter

The crowd gathered outside her address with signs proclaiming 'Polina Kovaleva daughter of Russian war criminal Sergei Lavrov'

Activists have labeled Polina Kovaleva, 26, as the 'daughter of a war criminal' who reportedly uses the capital to launder his money. Protesters chanted against Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov's involvement in the Ukraine war outside Kovaleva's flat in Kensington, South London on March 12. Earlier this week, security personnel declined to clarify whether Kovaleva was still in London. MPs have demanded that she be added to the hundreds of persons who have already been sanctioned for ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime.

Svetlana Polyakova, 51, is said to have been the mistress of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, 71, for the past 20 years. Polyakova owns a residence in Moscow and goes on every foreign trip with Lavrov. According to the anti-corruption nonprofit FBK, she has flown on a government plane more than 60 times.

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Protesters claim that the Russian minister has benefited Kovaleva, Polyakova's daughter. Before purchasing her own home, she resided in a townhouse apartment owned by the Russian embassy in Holland Park, West London. The crowd gathered outside her address with signs proclaiming 'Polina Kovaleva daughter of Russian war criminal Sergei Lavrov launders his money here'. Some signs bore pictures of her face and the words 'war criminal's daughter' underneath, a reference to her stepfather's role in Vladimir Putin's inner circle, while another group of protesters waved placards chanting 'your dad's a murderer'. 

Kovaleva also purchased her present $44M (£4.4 million) home without a mortgage when she was 21 years old. Her male partner, who has a 10% stake in her financial firm, is thought to share the house with her. According to The Times, the award-winning development features a pool, gym, spa, cinema, games area, and golf simulator, as well as other amenities.

Kovaleva and her family should be sanctioned, according to Maria Pevchikh, an investigator with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's FBK. She stated, "Polina's biological dad isn't super rich. She doesn't have an oligarch husband. But at the age of 21, she bought this apartment in London on Kensington High Street for £4.4 million. Her only source of money is her unemployed mother who happens to be Lavrov's informal wife. This is the textbook example of unexplained wealth. The property can be legally seized right now."

Kovaleva attended a private boarding school in Bristol before graduating from Loughborough University with a first-class degree in economics and politics. She went on to Imperial College London to pursue a master's degree in economics and business strategy, and while there, she served as an ambassador on the university's website.

During her study, Polina stated she developed a "next level work ethic." She went on to work for Gazprom, a Russian energy powerhouse. One of Putin's most trusted allies, Lavrov, stated quite clearly that Russia did not attack Ukraine. Britain and the EU have sanctioned him because he is considered an advocate for Putin's invasion.