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Reuters uncovers identity of Putin’s elusive youngest daughter
An anonymous source at Reuters news agency confirms that Katerina Tikhonova, who works with Moscow State University (MSU) and heads the Foundation for National Intellectual Development, is in fact the youngest daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speculation about Tikhonova’s identity started on Thursday, January 29, after journalist Oleg Kashin claimed in an article that she is Putin’s daughter.
In its story about Tikhonova, Reuters cites a Facebook post by Alexey Navalny, where he thanked Kashin for uncovering her identity.
On January 29, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, told reporters he knows nothing about Tikhonova, when questioned about Internet rumors that she’s related to the President. When asked if Putin’s daughter works with MSU, Peskov said, “I don’t know. It’s not my job. I work with the President, not with his kids.”
A source close to the university’s leadership confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that Tikhonova is Putin’s daughter, saying, “Yes, it’s her.”
- Katerina Tikhonova became the focus of public attention after a January 28 report by RBC about a project to expand MSU’s campus. According to RBC, the university plans to build a new science-and-technology center by 2018 on 240 hectares (about 600 acres) of Moscow real estate, where it will also construct several academic buildings, dormitories, and residences. Tikhonova’s Foundation for National Intellectual Development is participating in the project, and the work plan is being carried out by a firm called “Inopraktika,” which Tikhonova also heads.
- Vladimir Putin has two daughters: Maria, born in 1985, and Katerina, born in 1986. There is very little public information about either woman, though Putin has said both his daughters live in Russia.
- After Reuters confirmed Tikhonova’s relationship to Putin, RBC published an article about Reuters’ story, which was itself based on RBC’s original report.