Where is Katerina Tikhonova? The secret life of Vladimir Putin's 'hidden' daughter
The buzz around Vladimir Putin's "hidden" daughters was sparked yet again with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As the Russian president continues to unleash violence and atrocities on the neighboring country, many are dubbing his daughters Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova as "war criminals".
Both Maria and Katerina are believed to be Putin's daughters with his former wife Lyudmila Putina, though their identities are an open secret in Russia. Putin is also suspected to have a third daughter Luiza Rozova from an alleged extra-marital relationship. While Putin's eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova is known to be a pediatric endocrinologist, his younger daughter Katerina Tikhonova is a scientist and former acrobatic dancer. She is also the ex-wife of Kirill Shamalov, a prominent Russian businessman who was sanctioned by the US recently.
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Born as Yekaterina Vladimirovna Putina on August 31, 1986, Tikhonova grew up in East Germany, before moving to Saint Petersburg in 1991. However, Putin feared for the safety of his daughters during the gang wars era in Russia and sent them back to Germany. Katerina also dropped Putin as her surname out of security concerns and adopted the name of her maternal grandmother Yekaterina Tikhonovna Shkrebneva.
She attended St Petersburg State University and majored in Asian Studies, before graduating in 2009. She also holds a master's degree in Physics and Mathematics. She published a dissertation on the subject titled "Mathematical problems of correcting the activity of vestibular mechanoreceptors". Around this time, Tikhonova debuted as an acrobatic dancer and even secured the fifth rank at the 2013 World Championship for the sport.
The same year, she married Rossiya Bank co-owner Nikolay Shamalov's son Kirill Shamalov. There had been much controversy around the mysterious rise in Kirill Shamalov's wealth and assets after his marriage to Tikhonova. However, their marital bliss was short-lived as they eventually separated in 2018.
At present, Katerina Tikhonova has been appointed as the head of Innopraktika Company, which is a collaborative initiative of the National Intellectual Development Foundation (NIDF) and the National Intellectual Reserve Centre (NIRC) at Moscow State University. She is also the Deputy Director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at the institute.
Tikhonova, much like his older sister, prefers to stay away from the limelight and not reveal her identity as the president's daughter. In June 2021, she made a rare public appearance at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, discussing the use of "breakthrough technologies" to boost investment.
Both Tikhonova and Vorontsova have remained silent on their father's decision to invade Ukraine, prompting many to believe that they were supporting his decision for the same. In fact, there are also unfounded rumors that Tikhonova is Putin's personal advisor.