Russia opposition blogger may have ‘outed’ Putin’s daughter

Putin has made his and his family’s private life little less than a state secret, keeping his rarely-photographed daughters Yekaterina, 28, and Maria, 29, out of sight and managing his divorce with the minimum fuss.

But opposition blogger Alexei Navalny Thursday published on his Facebook page an online report which identified a certain Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova as the head of an organization working with Moscow State University.

A separate report on Wednesday by RBC, an independent multi-media holding, stated Tikhonova was among those heading a $1.7 billion project to build new University facilities but it did not make any connection between her and Putin.

Navalny wrote on his Facebook page: “RBC (they are cool!) on Wednesday found Putin’s daughter in the Scientific Council of Moscow State University.”

A source close to Moscow State University confirmed Tikhonova was Putin’s daughter, telling Reuters on condition of anonymity: “Yes, it is her.”

Tikhonova could not be reached for comment.

The Kremlin often brushes aside questions about Putin’s private life, defending his right it privacy. Asked about the woman’s identity, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I don’t know who she is.”

Asked whether Putin’s daughter works for Moscow State University, he answered: “I don’t know. It’s not my job. I deal with the president, not with his children.”

Sergey Aleksashenko, a former official at the central bank who is now an opposition figure, questioned in a blog whether it was correct for Tikhonova to hold such a role in a business project if she is indeed Putin’s daughter.

“If this is true, it means that Vladimir Putin has crossed one of those ‘red lines’ he once drew for himself,” he wrote.

Putin is so secretive about his family that most Russians have no idea what his daughters look like. It is also not public knowledge where his ex-wife Lyudmila is living since their divorce was finalised last year.

Putin did, however, say in November that his daughters both live in Russia and he sees them once or twice a month.