"We believe many of Putin's assets are hidden with family members, which is why we are targeting them," a US official said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is always careful when it comes to questions about his family; In 2015, during one of his marathon press conferences, he dodged questions about the identity of his two daughters.
Putin said: "My daughters live in Russia and study only in Russia, and I am proud of them.. They speak 3 European languages fluently, adding:" I do not talk about my family with anyone.. Everyone has the right to his destiny and live his life with dignity."
President Putin's daughters are with his ex-wife, Lyudmila, whom he married in 1983 when she was a flight attendant and was a KGB officer. Their marriage lasted 30 years, extending to Putin's rapid rise to the top of the Russian political system.
In 2013, the couple announced their consensual separation. "It was a joint decision," Putin said. "We hardly see each other, each of us has our own life." While Lyudmila said of Putin that he is "totally drowning in work."
Maria Vorontsova
Maria Vorontsova the Elder Born in 1985, she studied biology at St. Petersburg University and medicine at Moscow State University.
Vorontsova is currently an academic and an endocrinologist, co-author of a book on pediatric stunting, and is listed as a researcher at the Moscow Endocrinology Research Center.
She is also a businesswoman, and is married to Dutch businessman Jorit Wassen, who once worked for the Russian state energy giant Gazprom; Although they separated.
Katerina Tikhonova
Katerina Tikhonova rose to prominence due to her talents as a rock and roll dancer, and she and her partner ranked fifth in an international event in 2013.
In the same year, she married Kirill Shamalov, the son of an old friend of Putin, and their wedding took place at an exclusive ski resort near St. Petersburg.
The United States sanctioned Shamalov in 2018; for his role in the Russian energy sector, and the US Treasury said that his "wealth improved significantly after marriage"; However, the couple have since separated.
Katerina Tikhonova now works in academia and business; According to Western media reports.
It appeared briefly in Russian state media in 2018; To talk about neurotechnology, also at a business forum in 2021, her relationship with the president was not mentioned in either case.
Putin also has grandchildren, whom he mentioned in a phone call in 2017; But he did not say how many of them he had or which of his daughters he gave birth to.
