The two women spoke at length at Vladimir Putin’s annual major economic forum known as “Russian Davos” in the president’s hometown of St. Petersburg. Their identities were an open secret that no one dared say out loud: they were Putin’s adult daughters.
The eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova, 39, is a scientist specializing in genetic research. She moderated a discussion on “bioeconomics” at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
On the same day, Katerina Tikhonova, a 37-year-old tech executive and acrobatic rock dancer, spoke proudly of the defense industry’s role in ensuring Russia’s technological sovereignty.
The identity of Putin’s daughter with Lyudmila Putina, a former Aeroflot flight attendant, has never been confirmed by the Kremlin. The couple divorced in 2013, and no photos of them as adults have been officially released. Despite their growing influence and Western sanctions, Putin has never publicly acknowledged them as his daughters. When asked by reporters, he simply referred to them as “these women.”
Their names were also conspicuously absent from Putin’s detailed family tree presented to the public at the 2024 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Presidential Family Tree.
But the two women’s rising public profiles are indicative of a broader trend: The children of Putin and his allies are increasingly filling roles in business and government, a sign of their aging parents’ efforts to secure power and influence Stable transition of force.
Ksenia Shoigu, the daughter of former Defense Minister and current Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, chaired discussions about the country’s triathlon federation, which she heads.
Senior ice hockey executive Roman Rotenberg, whose father Boris was one of Putin’s childhood judo partners, also spoke out, sarcastically objecting to what he called “nepotism in sports.”
In a recent report titled Politburo 2.0, Yevgeny Minchenko, a political scientist close to the Kremlin, described the process as the “rise of the princess,” a reversal of the former Soviet system of government. recognized.
“Children of representatives of the political elite achieve long-awaited career advancement,” he wrote.
This year is a far cry from the forums that preceded the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when multinationals and Russian companies would compete for expensive partnerships or throw glitzy parties attended by pop stars like Sting to prove their commitment to the Russian market.
Speakers at SPIEF have included world leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
To replace Western delegations, Russia courted officials from South America, Africa, India and China. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Bolivian President Luis Arce were this year’s guests of honor.
A delegation from the Taliban was also present, although the group is officially banned in Russia.
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Discussions of greater cooperation with the West are now a thing of the past, replaced by speeches from far-right activists, including the philosopher Alexander Dugin, a passionate advocate of total war. Other officials called for the elimination of the “LGBT movement.”
T-shirts sold at the conference featured Putin’s combative phrases. “If a fight is inevitable, throw the first punch,” it said, referring to a saying Putin reportedly learned while growing up on the streets of Leningrad.
In a sign of the times, Russian hawkish political scientist Sergei Karaganov, who has recently advocated a pre-emptive nuclear strike, was chosen to host the closing ceremony, traditionally hosted by Putin.
Still, some participants said the atmosphere at the summit was upbeat, buoyed by a positive economic outlook. The International Monetary Fund said that despite being the world’s most sanctioned country, Russia’s economy is expected to grow faster than most other developed economies, underscoring the country’s surprising resilience , and questioned the effectiveness of the sanctions policy.
Russia’s oil and gas revenues nearly doubled to 11 billion pounds in April from a year earlier as prices rose, underscoring the difficulties faced by Western countries as they seek to limit the Kremlin’s revenue and stifle its military might.
“Compared with 2023, the situation this year is obviously optimistic,” said an official from a state-owned financial institution who is participating in SPIEF for the third time. “The air is filled with pride that we have defeated the Western economic war.”
When a confident Putin delivered a plenary address on Friday, he promised the audience a Ukrainian victory and praised the country’s economic growth.
“Despite all obstacles and illegal sanctions, Russia remains one of the major players in world trade,” he said.
