Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, are stepping into public eye shedding years of secrecy because their father is “considering his mortality”. Former CIA agent Ronald Marks, who has worked for the US intelligence agency for almost three decades, said the daughters were seen in public to boost their father’s image.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, he referred to their appearance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this week, where both spoke, as an instance of them shedding years of secrecy.
“Remember it’s Putin’s world and we just live in it. That’s an extension of him… his desire to recreate the Russian empire, his desire to show himself as the most powerful guy in Russia. Young daughters represent vitality for him,” the veteran US intelligence official told the Daily Beast.
The 71-year-old Russian leader has always remained secretive about his children and has rarely addressed their activities and acknowledged their existence. His children came to the forefront in the last two years as rumours of his ill-health gained traction.
Vorontsova, 39, a genetics researcher, and Tikhonova, 37, a tech executive and former acrobatic dancer, confidently accepted invitations to speak at the summit about their careers. This move suggests their influential father is leveraging family connections to strengthen his legacy.
“He’s considering his mortality. He’s getting to be at that age right now where he’s now looking for his legacy. And both of those kids to my understanding are pretty sharp,” Marks told the outlet.
“If those daughters can step out front and centre and represent him, I think he’ll take advantage of it,” he said.
He further added that the summit which was hosted in Putin’s home of St. Petersburg was an “easy forum” to test the women’s PR ability.
Both daughters are sanctioned by the US, which said that the duo “enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people”. They have stayed out of the limelight and have only appeared in public on a few occasions in the recent years.
Tikhonova, a former competitive dancer, now leads an artificial intelligence initiative at Moscow State University. Meanwhile, Vorontsova is a medical researcher and co-owner of the healthcare investment firm Nomenko.
Putin is widely rumoured to have other children, though their identities remain unconfirmed.
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