Vladimir Putin is in the leading headlines of the world’s media. Since the Russian president ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, some information about his usually secretive personal life has come to light. 

Putin has married once, in 1983, when he was a KGB intelligence agent. He married Liudmila Shkrebneva, but they separated in 2013, 30 years later. Shkrebneva did not appear much in public during their marriage, but did cultural and charity work as first lady. In 2016 she began a relationship with a man 20 years her junior, Artur Ocheretni.

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Who are Putin’s daughters?

From that marriage came two daughters, who for security reasons have never borne their father’s surname, using secret identities instead. The eldest is Maria (Masha), born during Gorbachev’s perestroika (1985) in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). She is an endocrinologist and married Dutch businessman Jorrit Faasen, who worked for Gazprom, Russia’s most powerful gas company. They have one son, but Putin revealed that he has two grandchildren. It is not known whether they are both Maria‘s children or the other is his other daughter’s. 

The younger of Putin‘s daughters is called Yekaterina, born three years later in Dresden (where Putin was stationed by the KGB). She is a researcher on investment programmes at Moscow University. She was married between 2013 and 2018 to Kiril Shamalov, a billionaire. It came to light that she was Putin‘s daughter because her colleagues at Moscow University said so, although this has always been denied by the Kremlin.

Who is Putin’s girlfriend Alina Kabaeva?

Putin has always been linked to former gymnast Alina Kabaeva. The Russian president has never confirmed this relationship, however, and when asked he simply replied that “everything is in order”.

Many media outlets claim that they have had a child together and it has even been said that they have twins. So we don’t know whether Putin has only just two daughters or perhaps as many as four.

Alina Kabaeva is a Russian politician, media director and retired rhythmic gymnast who won two Olympic medals, gold in Athens and bronze in Sydney.