Katerina Tikhonova

Tikhonova was born in Dresden, East Germany, the younger of two daughters of Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Putina (née Shkrebneva). The family moved to Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in the spring of 1991. She attended Peterschule ({{langx|ru|Петершуле}}), a German Gymnasium in Saint Petersburg.{{cite news |last1=Болотская |first1=Рита (Bolotskaya, Rita) |last2=Земзаре |first2=Инга (Zemzare, Inga) |date=7 August 2002 |url=http://www.sobesednik.ru/weekly/138/specialcase/3719.phtml |title=Дочки №1: Машу и Катю Путиных воспитывают в строгости, но они все равно часто подкалывают друг друга |trans-title=Daughters # 1: Masha and Katya Putin are brought up in severity, but they still often tease each other |language=ru |work=Собеседник.ру (Sobesenik) |access-date=26 January 2021 |archive-date=7 November 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021107033709/http://www.sobesednik.ru/weekly/138/specialcase/3719.phtml}} [http://www.compromat.ru/page_12115.htm Alt URL] Later, during violent gang wars involving the Tambov Gang while it was taking control of Saint Petersburg's energy trade, she and her sister Maria were sent by their father, who feared for their safety, to Germany where their legal guardian was former Stasi officer Matthias Warnig, who had worked with their father in Dresden as part of a KGB cell and established the Dresdner Bank branch in Saint Petersburg.{{sfn|Belton|2020|pages=101–102, 521–522}} After her family moved to Moscow, she attended German School Moscow."[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73542C8C4250F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM DECIPHERING PUTIN AS HIS REGIME DAWNS]." Philadelphia Inquirer. 19 March 2000. A01 National. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "The German influence has been long-lasting. Putin speaks the language fluently, and his daughters, 13 and 14 years old, attend a German school in Moscow." She dropped the Putin surname and took the patronymic name of her maternal grandmother, Yekaterina Tikhonovna Shkrebneva,{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/11/russia-putin-daughter-katerina-tikhonova|title=Russia's new princelings: who is Putin's rock'n'roll daughter?|first1=Stephen|last1=Grey|first2=Andrey|last2=Kuzmin|first3=Elizabeth|last3=Piper|date=11 November 2015|website=The Guardian|agency=Reuters|access-date=1 February 2023}} as her surname.

After taking entrance exams along with her sister Maria in July 2005, Tikhonova began her university studies at Saint Petersburg State University where its rector Lyudmila Verbitskaya was a close friend of her father.{{cite news |last=Пахмутова |first=Наталья (Pakhmutova, Natalia) |url=http://www.compromat.ru/page_17190.htm |title=Мария и Екатерина поступили в Петербургский госуниверситет |trans-title=Maria and Ekaterina entered the St. Petersburg State University |language=ru |work=Жизнь (Life) |date=3 August 2005 |access-date=5 March 2021 }} Although she was very interested in Chinese studies, she studied Japanese history, majoring in Asian studies under the university's dean, {{Ill|Yevgeny Zelenev|ru|Зеленев, Евгений Ильич}}; she graduated in June 2009.{{cite news |url=http://flb.ru/info/48427.html |title=Тайная жизнь дочерей Путина |trans-title=Secret life of Putin's daughters |language=ru |work=Журналистское агентство Free Lance Bureau (FLB) (Free Lance Bureau) |date=13 January 2011 |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=15 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110115192553/http://flb.ru/info/48427.html}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/world/europe/preparing-return-to-presidency-putin-keeps-his-private-life-off-limits.html|title=In the Spotlight of Power, Putin Keeps His Private Life Veiled in Shadows|newspaper=The New York Times|last=Herszenhorn|first=David M.|date=5 May 2012|quote=Both daughters attended German-language schools and St. Petersburg State University, where Maria studied biology and Yekaterina majored in Asian Studies.|access-date=2 March 2020}}{{cite web |url=http://journal.spbu.ru/2009/11/2.shtml |title=Список. выпускников Санкт-Петербургского государственного университета |trans-title=List. graduates of St. Petersburg state university |language=ru |work=St. Petersburg State University (spbu.ru) |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=5 March 2021 |archive-date=3 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603225127/http://journal.spbu.ru/2009/11/2.shtml |quote="See the Восточный (Oriental studies) section under Бакалавры (Bachelors) where she is listed as "Путина Катерина Владимировна" (Putina Katerina Vladimirovna). The list was published as № 11 (3797), 29 июня 2009 года (29 June 2009).}} Tikhonova graduated from Moscow State University with a specialization in Japan.{{cite web|last1=Anin|first1=Roman|author-link=Roman Anin|last2=Dmitriev|first2=Denis|last3=Shmagun|first3=Olesya|author-link3=Olesya Shmagun|last4=Shleynov|first4=Roman|last5=Velikovski|first5=Dmitry|last6=Savina|first6=Sonya|last7=Dolinina|first7=Irina|last8=Marokhovskaya|first8=Alesya|date=7 December 2020|title=Love, Offshores, and Administrative Resources: How Marrying Putin's Daughter Gave Kirill Shamalov a World of Opportunity|url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/love-offshores-and-administrative-resources-how-marrying-putins-daughter-gave-kirill-shamalov-a-world-of-opportunity|access-date=9 December 2020|website=Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project|quote=The BBC's Russian service quoted Viktor Sadovnichy, the rector of Moscow State University, as saying that Tikhonova had graduated from its Institute of Asian and African Countries with a specialization in Japan.}}

Tikhonova is the director of Innopraktika, a $1.7 billion development project to create a science center at Moscow State University.{{cite web|last1=Bershidsky|first1=Leonid|title=Putin Family Values|url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-29/putin-s-daughter-seems-to-surface-in-moscow|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=11 November 2015|date=29 January 2015|archive-date=29 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129190400/http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-01-29/putin-s-daughter-seems-to-surface-in-moscow|url-status=dead}} Innopraktika is competing with the Skolkovo Innovation Center and is referred to by Stanislav Belkovsky as being the "anti-Skolkovo".{{cite web|last1=Reznik|first1=Irina|last2=Pismennaya|first2=Evgenia|last3=Arkhipov|first3=Ilya|title=Putin's Dancing Daughter Said to Run Fund Backed by Dad's Allies|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/putin-s-dancing-daughter-said-to-run-fund-backed-by-dad-s-allies|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=11 November 2015|date=30 January 2015}} In February 2020, Innopraktika announced that Tikhonova was appointed head of a new artificial intelligence institute at Moscow State University.

In May 2019, she defended her dissertation and received a degree in physics and mathematics.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-daughter-idUSKCN20M2RU|title=Putin's youngest daughter to run artificial intelligence institute|date=28 February 2020|work=Reuters|access-date=29 February 2020|language=en}} The scientific work was called "Mathematical problems of correcting the activity of vestibular mechanoreceptors". This was preceded by a series of scientific publications in collaboration with well-known scientists.{{Cite web|url=https://zbmath.org/authors/?q=au%3A%22tikhonova%2C%20k%2A%20v%2A%22|title=Tikhonova, Katerina V.|access-date=26 July 2021|website=zbmath.org}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.mathnet.ru/php/person.phtml?option_lang=rus&personid=138853|title=Тихонова Катерина Владимировна|language=ru|access-date=26 July 2021|website=mathnet.ru}} The rector of the Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichiy was the scientific supervisor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.ru/obshchestvo/376685-katerina-tihonova-stala-kandidatom-nauk|title=Катерина Тихонова стала кандидатом наук|language=ru|date=24 May 2019|work=Forbes Russia}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.dissercat.com/content/matematicheskie-zadachi-korrektsii-aktivnosti-vestibulyarnykh-mekhanoretseptorov|title=Математические задачи коррекции активности вестибулярных механорецепторов|language=ru|access-date=26 July 2021|publisher=dissercat.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-48395431|title="Таких ученых не так много". Как предполагаемая дочь Путина защищала диссертацию в МГУ|language=ru|date=24 May 2019|publisher=BBC Russian}} The legitimacy of her degree, however, has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.

In December 2019, Tikhonova became a member of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Mass Sports under the Government of the Russian Federation.{{Cite web|url=http://government.ru/info/38687/|title=Состав Совета при Правительстве Российской Федерации по развитию физической культуры и массового спорта в редакции распоряжения от 23 декабря 2019 года №3147-р|language=ru|date=23 December 2019|publisher=government.ru}}{{Cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2019/12/26/predpolagaemaya-doch-putina-katerina-tihonova-voshla-v-sovet-po-fizkulture-i-sportu-pri-pravitelstve-vmeste-s-docheryu-shoygu|title=Предполагаемая дочь Путина Катерина Тихонова вошла в совет по физкультуре и спорту при правительстве. Вместе с дочерью Шойгу|language=ru|date=26 December 2019|publisher=Meduza}}{{Cite web|url=http://rusletter.com/articles/katerina_tikhonova_joined_ksenia_shoigu_in_the_government_sports_council|title=Katerina Tikhonova joined Ksenia Shoigu in the government sports council|date=27 December 2019|publisher=rusletter.com|access-date=26 July 2021|archive-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727021755/http://rusletter.com/articles/katerina_tikhonova_joined_ksenia_shoigu_in_the_government_sports_council|url-status=dead}}

In July 2022, she became co-chair of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs's import substitution coordination council.{{cite news|date=13 July 2022|title=Putin's Daughter Takes Top 'Import Substitution' Role|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07/13/putins-daughter-takes-top-import-substitution-role-a78282|url-status=live|work=The Moscow Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220725031202/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/07/13/putins-daughter-takes-top-import-substitution-role-a78282|archive-date=25 July 2022|access-date=25 July 2022}}{{cite news|last=Bennetts|first=Marc|date=13 July 2022|title=Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova to lead sanctions-busting group|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/putin-s-daughter-katerina-tikhonova-to-lead-sanctions-busting-group-f620r9xg3|url-status=live|work=The Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220713135718/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/putin-s-daughter-katerina-tikhonova-to-lead-sanctions-busting-group-f620r9xg3|archive-date=13 July 2022|url-access=subscription|access-date=25 July 2022}}

In the mid-2010s, Tikhonova was fond of acrobatic rock'n'roll – a rare, non-Olympic sport, in the world ranking of which there are only about two hundred people. She and partner Ivan Klimov came in fifth place at a 2013 world championship event in Switzerland.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia-capitalism-daughters/|title=Putin's daughter, a young billionaire and the president's friends|newspaper=Reuters|last1=Grey|first1=Stephen|last2=Kuzmin|first2=Andrey|last3=Piper|first3=Elizabeth|date=10 November 2015|quote=In 2013, she and her dancing partner came fifth in a world championship event in Switzerland.|access-date=2 March 2020}} In 2014, at the Russian Championship, the pair took second place.{{Cite web|url=https://tvrain.ru/news/na_baze_sportshkoly_kateriny_tihonovoj_postrojat_tsentr_rok_n_rolla_s_vertoletnoj_ploschadkoj-419831/|title=На базе спортшколы Катерины Тихоновой построят центр рок-н-ролла с вертолетной площадкой|language=ru|date=27 October 2016|publisher=TV Rain}} In the World Federation, Tikhonova at one time held the post of Vice President for Expansion & Marketing.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrrc.org/default.asp?iId=GFIJKH|title=Presidium WRRC|access-date=7 April 2015|website=wrrc.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120210634/http://www.wrrc.org/default.asp?iId=GFIJKH|archive-date=20 November 2016}} Then, acrobatic rock and roll began to gain popularity in Russia. From 2016 to 2019, in the Moscow region, at the sports school where Tikhonova studied, an acrobatic rock and roll center was built for 2 billion rubles.{{Cite web|url=https://stroi.mos.ru/photo_lines/sportkomplieks-zhavoronki-akrobatichieskii-rok-n-roll-i-ploshchadki-dlia-parkura|title=Спорткомплекс "Жаворонки": акробатический рок-н-ролл и площадки для паркура|language=ru|date=23 April 2012|website=stroi.mos.ru|access-date=26 July 2021|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726110750/https://stroi.mos.ru/photo_lines/sportkomplieks-zhavoronki-akrobatichieskii-rok-n-roll-i-ploshchadki-dlia-parkura|url-status=dead}}

On 6 April 2022, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tikhonova was sanctioned by the United States due to her being an adult child of Vladimir Putin.{{cite news|date=6 April 2022|title=Ukraine War: Putin's daughters targeted by US sanctions|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61005388|url-status=live|publisher=BBC News|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220406182156/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61005388|archive-date=6 April 2022|access-date=6 April 2022}} The United States Department of the Treasury stated, "Tikhonova is a tech executive whose work supports the [Government of the Russian Federation] and defense industry."{{cite web|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0705|title=U.S. Treasury Escalates Sanctions on Russia for Its Atrocities in Ukraine|date=6 April 2022|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury|access-date=6 April 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220406182220/https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0705|archive-date=6 April 2022}} On 8 April, the United Kingdom and the European Union also imposed sanctions on Tikhonova.{{cite news|last=Jolly|first=Jasper|date=8 April 2022|title=UK joins US in imposing sanctions on Putin's daughters|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/08/putin-daughters-sanctions-asset-travel-ban-uk|url-status=live|work=The Guardian|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220409042546/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/08/putin-daughters-sanctions-asset-travel-ban-uk|archive-date=9 April 2022|access-date=9 April 2022}}{{cite news|last1=Petrequin|first1=Samuel|last2=Casert|first2=Raf|last3=Cook|first3=Lorne|date=8 April 2022|title=EU imposes sanctions on Putin's daughters|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-united-states-europe-40ad816ac386669d98eb0ebee2e5c779|url-status=live|publisher=Associated Press|location=Brussels|publication-place=New York City|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220409042931/https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-united-states-europe-40ad816ac386669d98eb0ebee2e5c779|archive-date=9 April 2022|access-date=9 April 2022}} On 12 April, Japan imposed sanctions on her.{{cite news|date=12 April 2022|title=Japan OKs asset freezes on 398 Russians, including Putin's daughters|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/12/national/japan-russia-sanctions-putin-daughters/|url-status=live|work=The Japan Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220412104403/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/12/national/japan-russia-sanctions-putin-daughters/|archive-date=12 April 2022|access-date=12 April 2022|url-access=registration}} On 21 November, she was sanctioned by New Zealand.{{cite web|url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/further-sanctions-political-and-economic-elites-russia-and-belarus|title=Further sanctions on the political and economic elites of Russia and Belarus|last=Mahuta|first=Nanaia|author-link=Nanaia Mahuta|date=21 November 2022|publisher=New Zealand Government|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221121042054/https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/further-sanctions-political-and-economic-elites-russia-and-belarus|archive-date=21 November 2022|access-date=24 November 2022}}{{cite news|last=Pearse|first=Adam|date=21 November 2022|title=Russia-Ukraine war: President Vladimir Putin's daughters sanctioned by New Zealand|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/russia-ukraine-war-president-vladimir-putins-daughters-sanctioned-by-new-zealand/IOXUI6A3MNF5RA5WHP3JY2OBHE/|url-status=live|work=The New Zealand Herald|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221124182737/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/russia-ukraine-war-president-vladimir-putins-daughters-sanctioned-by-new-zealand/IOXUI6A3MNF5RA5WHP3JY2OBHE/|archive-date=24 November 2022|access-date=24 November 2022}}

In 2013, Tikhonova married businessman Kirill Shamalov,{{cite news |title=Revealed: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=3 April 2016 |first=Luke |last=Harding}} the son of Nikolay Shamalov, a co-owner of Rossiya Bank. He is vice-president of Sibur Holding, which is a Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company headquartered in Moscow. The Russian government holds 38% of the shares of the gas company. At the time, the couple was estimated to hold assets worth around $2 billion. In January 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Tikhonova and Shamalov had separated.{{cite news|last1=Reznik|first1=Irina|last2=Arkhipov|first2=Ilya|last3=Sazonov|first3=Alexander|title=Putin Family Split Offers Peek at Secret Dealings of Russia Inc.|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/putin-family-split-offers-peek-at-secret-dealings-of-russia-inc|access-date=25 April 2018|work=Bloomberg|date=26 January 2018}}

She reportedly has a daughter, born 2017, with ballet dancer Igor Zelensky.{{cite news|date=19 May 2022|title=Investigation Links German Ex-Ballet Director Zelensky with Putin's Daughter|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/19/investigation-links-german-ex-ballet-director-zelensky-with-putins-daughter-a77728|url-status=live|work=The Moscow Times|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220520053627/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/05/19/russia-ukraine-trade-barbs-over-europes-largest-nuclear-plant-a77725|archive-date=20 May 2022|access-date=20 May 2022}}{{cite news|last=Oltermann|first=Philip|date=19 May 2022|title=Putin's daughter flew to Munich 'more than 50 times' in two years, leaks reveal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/putins-daughter-flew-to-munich-more-than-50-times-investigation-suggests|url-status=live|work=The Guardian|location=Berlin|publication-place=London|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220520034617/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/putins-daughter-flew-to-munich-more-than-50-times-investigation-suggests|archive-date=20 May 2022|access-date=20 May 2022}}{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Raymond |date=2022-04-20 |title=Putin 'grounded' daughter 'amid fears she would not return to Russia' |url=https://iknowallnews.com/world-news/putin-grounded-daughter-amid-fears-she-would-not-return-to-russia/ |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=I Know All News |language=en-US}}

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• {{cite book |last=Belton |first=Catherine |author-link=Catherine Belton |title=Putin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took on the West |publisher=Farrar, Straus, Giroux |year= 2020 |isbn=978-0374238711}}

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Category:1986 births

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Category:Competitive dancers

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Category:Russian women in business

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