Putin’s women emerge from the shadows to vie for succession

Vladimir Putin’s relatives have taken advantage of Russia’s slide into neo-Tsarism to step into politics, creating a spate of blunders and scandals.

President Putin’s daughters Katerina Tikhonova, left, and Maria Vorontsova, right, as well as his partner Alina Kabaeva have all become more prominent since Russia invaded Ukraine. Illustration: The Times.

A lack of experience did not disqualify Anna Tsivileva from a senior defence ministry job as Russia invaded Ukraine. More relevant to her appointment as deputy defence minister last June was her relationship to President Putin.

Tsivileva, 52, is the daughter of Evgeny Putin, the president’s cousin. In the past year, she has been one of several of Putin’s family members to be given a high-profile position as the war accelerates Russia’s slide into neo-Tsarism.

A British Ministry of Defence intelligence report notes that the flagrant nepotism of Tsivileva’s appointment tested “even Russian tolerance for corrupt practice”. It added that there was “a realistic possibility that her further elevation is indicative of the increasing insularity of the Russian elite”.

Tsivileva’s inexperience was exposed in December when she accidentally disclosed to the State Duma that at least 48,000 Russian soldiers were missing in action in Ukraine. She was later politely chided for having revealed a state secret.

Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, head of the parliamentary defence committee, said: “I kindly ask you not to mention these numbers anywhere. This is classified information. When we draw up the final documents these numbers should not appear anywhere.”

Tsivileva has been caused further embarrassment this week when Agentstvo, an independent Russian media outlet, found that defendants facing criminal charges were donating to a state-backed veterans’ foundation – of which Tsivileva is chairwoman – in exchange for lighter sentences.

Agentstvo reported that a recent donor was Gennady Udulyan, a Moscow lawyer who was sentenced to five years for brawling in a restaurant and bribing a detention-centre inspector. Another was Alexei Belyankin, a Russian Railways official charged with large-scale fraud but convicted on a lesser charge of abuse of power and given only a fine.

Maria Faassen aka Maria Vorontsova (L).

Tsivileva, a psychiatrist by training, is married to Sergey Tsivilev, the energy minister and governor of the coal-rich Kemerovo region. She has a 70 per cent stake in Kolmar Group, a coal mining company. In June 2022, the British government sanctioned Tsivileva, saying she has “significantly benefited from her relationship with Putin”.

Ten days before her appointment as deputy defence minister, Putin’s two daughters, Maria Vorontsova, 39, and Katerina Tikhonova, 38, spoke at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, an important event for the Russian elite.

In January, Vorontsova, an endocrinologist, also gave an unusual interview in which she spoke about Russia’s value for human life. Her link to the president was not mentioned and Putin has never acknowledged Vorontsova or Tikhonova as his daughters.

Mark Galeotti, author of We Need to Talk about Putin, said his family’s growing prominence was an “inevitable result of the increasingly personalistic nature of the system” that had become ever more Tsarist. “In a system like this, your career and your profile is going to be enhanced by your connection to the secular tsar,” Galeotti said.

Russian former gymnast Alina Kabaeva is believed to have four children with Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP.

Elizaveta Fokht, a journalist at BBC News Russian, which has reported extensively on Putin’s family, said the war had allowed his relatives to emerge from the shadows. She wrote in an article for Carnegie Politika: “The appointment of Putin’s first cousin once removed as deputy defence minister might be seen as nepotism but who has time to worry about corruption amid Russia’s confrontation with the West?”

Alina Kabaeva, 41, a retired Olympic gymnast with whom Putin is said to have up to four children, has also stepped into the limelight recently. Her relationship with the president has been an open secret for more than a decade but she has avoided attention.

Since founding a rhythmic gymnastics academy, Heavenly Grace, in 2022 – with generous state support – Kabaeva has become a regular on national television. She coached the academy’s squad at the Brics Games last year in Kazan, putting her in direct competition with the Russian national team, led by her former coach, Irina Viner. Tensions were raised when Maria Borisova, of Heavenly Grace, was named as top performer over Lala Kramarenko, Viner’s student.

A spectator interviewed by the BBC said Viner shouted at Kabaeva from the stands: “To hell with your Maria!” The outburst might have been ill-advised. It was announced last month that after 24 years Viner would be stepping down as head coach of the Russian national team.

The Times