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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dan Bloom & Kaisha Langton & Ryan Fahey

UK sanctions Vladimir Putin's daughters over 'close to genocide' war in Ukraine

The UK today sanctioned Vladimir Putin's daughters over the war in Ukraine, which Boris Johnson has described as not "far short of genocide".

Katerina Tikhonova, 35, and Maria Vorontsova, 36, have joined the hundreds of Russians slapped with asset freezes and travel bans, including Putin himself.

Britain claimed it would crack down on their "lavish lifestyle", mirroring sanctions that were imposed on the two women by the US earlier this week.

Also sanctioned is the daughter of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Separately Lavrov's step-daughter Polina Kovaleva - who reportedly owns a £4m pad in Kensington, London - was already sanctioned last month.

A statement from the Foreign Office said: "The lavish lifestyles of the Kremlin's inner circle will be further targeted from today as the UK sanctions the adult daughters of President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova, the daughters of President Putin, and Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova, daughter of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, will be subject to travel bans and asset freezes."

Putin is said to be one of the world’s richest men but it has been long suspected that his fortune his stashed among family members and associates.

His £200billion riches come from taking 50% of every rouble made in Russia by the country’s oligarchs.

Putin - who is notoriously private about his family life - has let slip a few details about the lives of his daughters, who he had with ex-wife Lyudmilla Putina.

Maria Vorontsova in Sochi in July 2021 (Alamy Stock Photo)

Putin announced that he had separated from his daughters' mother, Lyudmilla Putina, after almost 30 years of marriage in a staged interview with a Russian journalist in 2013.

Katerina, 35, and Maria, 36, have never been officially confirmed as Putin's children and live relatively normal lifestyles.

So secretive is Putin, that Katerina was only publicly named by a Russian media outlet as Vladimir Putin's younger daughter in 2015.

At the time, he refused to confirm or deny she was his daughter at a press conference.

"I have never been specific about the workplaces of my daughters and their line of work, and I'm not going to do so now. For many reasons, including security considerations," he said.

Lavrov's step-daughter Polina Kovaleva - who reportedly owns a £4m pad in Kensington, London - was already sanctioned last month (pevchikh/Twitter)
Vladimir Putin seen with his wife Lyudmila and daughter Maria in 1985 (TASS via Getty Images)

But he confirmed that his daughters were living in Moscow where they are "making the first steps in their careers, and doing well."

"They are not involved in business or politics," he added, revealing that they were both fluent in three European languages.

"I'm a proud father," he said. "My daughters have never been star-struck children. They never craved the limelight."

They are rarely photographed and avoid public events, in favour of jobs in business and medicine.

In 2020, Putin told Russian media how the country's coronavirus vaccine had been tested on one of his daughters - but did not reveal who.

People return to their destroyed homes after Ukrainian army regained control of Borodyanka, Ukraine (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

He disclosed that he is a grandfather five years ago in an interview with Oliver Stone, the Hollywood director.

"Are you a grandfather yet?" Stone asked Putin during an interview. "Yes," replied Mr Putin.

"Our unprecedented package of sanctions is hitting the elite and their families, while degrading the Russian economy on a scale Russia hasn't seen since the fall of the Soviet Union," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

Britain also said its analysis showed Russia is heading for the deepest recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Britain estimates that 60% of Russian foreign currency reserves have been frozen as a result of international sanctions.

On Thursday, the Kremlin, which says its actions are a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" Ukraine, described the move against Putin's daughters as part of a broader Western frenzy against Russia.

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