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Who is Jorit Faassen? Putin's daughter Maria Vorontsova splits from her Dutch husband

While the reason for Maria and Jorit's separation is not known, the war on Ukraine has shattered Maria's dream of a super modern medical center in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin's eldest daughter, Dr Maria Vorontsova has reportedly split from her Dutch businessman husband, Jorit Faassen. Even though the timeline of the split is not specified, as per reports, it happened before Putin unleashed the war on Ukraine. The 36-year-old, who is Putin's daughter with his former wife Lyudmila, is a leading researcher at the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Health of Russia and an expert in rare genetic diseases in children.

The news of the split was revealed by Roman Dobrokhotov, an exiled editor of The Insider, an investigative outlet banned for its investigations of alleged Kremlin corruption. According to reports, the couple has children together. But Putin, being the extremely private person he is, has never acknowledged his children or their work officially. He was once told by a BBC Russia reporter that it was an 'open secret' that Maria and Katerina were his children, but he still declined to confirm them as his daughters.

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While the reason for the couple's separation is not known, the war on Ukraine has shattered Vorontsova's dream of a super modern medical center in Russia. Exiled Russian investigative journalist Sergey Kanev told Daily Mail that 69-year-old Putin "did a rotten job for his elder daughter." He further revealed, "She has a big share in the mega-project for the construction of a super modern medical center near St Petersburg. The plans were to attract patients from Europe and rich sheikhs from the Persian Gulf countries. And now, after the attack on Ukraine, what kind of Europeans and sheikhs will come?"

Who is Jorit Faassen?

Born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands, Faassen, a businessman, is known to have worked for a long time in Russia at Gazprombank-Invest and Stroytransgaz. His father is believed to have been a colonel in the Dutch armed forces. Though Faassen's picture is not available, he is reported to have said, "I am married to a Russian woman and have children. I will leave it at that."

Putin's daughters Maria and Katerina 

Born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Maria is a pediatric endocrinologist. She studied biology at Saint Petersburg State University and became a graduate of medicine at Moscow State University in 2011. In the past, Putin allocated about $2 billion for genetic research and named Maria to the 30-person panel overseeing the work, as per Bloomberg. She is reportedly his advisor on genetic engineering.

Maria's younger sister, Katerina Tikhonova is the deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University. The 35-year-old heads Innopraktika, which unites two initiatives of Moscow State University: the National Intellectual Development Foundation and the National Intellectual Reserve Centre. The scientist and former acrobatic dancer was married to Russian businessman Kirill Shamalov from 2013 to 2018.

Putin has also refused to accept that Olympic gold medalist and rhythmic gymnast Alina Kabaeva as his long-time girlfriend. Putin has previously said, "I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected. I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives."