Independent magazine reveals new personal details about Putin's older daughter
The New Times magazine has published an investigation into the life of Putin's older daughter, Maria.
The investigation begins with a description of Maria's Moscow home located near the American Embassy and the Chaliapin House Museum.
Maria studied at the Moscow State University Faculty of Fundamental Medicine from 2006 to 2011 under the pseudonym “Vorontsov.” Apart from this surname, she's has used four other false names to protect her privacy, say sources close to The New Times.
After graduating from Moscow State University with honors, she entered a medical PhD program at a Health Ministry research center headed by academic Ivan Dedov.
The New Times implies that Dedov was rewarded for overseeing Putin's daughter at the medical research center. Dedov's son, Dmitry, became Russia's representative judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Dedov then became the president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. At the same time, extra development funds were channeled by the Health Ministry to the institute, where Maria was conducting her research.
Putin's older daughter is now married to Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen and carries his last name, says the magazine. Starting 2007, Mr. Faassen became a director for business development at the Russian state-owned giant Gazprom. He later left the company and went into consulting. The magazine says, until recently, he was vice chairman for the board of directors at the consulting firm MEF Audit.
Around six months ago, the surname “Faassen” disappeared from MEF Audit's website. Maria stopped meeting with her neighbors nearby the US Embassy in Moscow. “Two important events have taken place in Maria Faassen's life: she received her PhD in medicine, and she has given birth to a daughter,” reports The New Times.
Part of the information that appeared in The New Times investigation was published in an earlier investigation carried out by Reuters.
“Judging from photos on the Internet, [Maria] leads the life of a very wealthy woman, with much traveling around the world, riding on expensive yachts, and hiring foreign tutors,” reports The New Times.
Earlier investigations into the life of Putin's youngest daughter were published by the news agency RBC, Reuters and other media agencies. These agencies have named her to be a certain “Katerina Tikhonova.” Tikhonova heads the company Innopraktika, which overseas development at Moscow State University. Tikhonova's husband, Cyril Shamalov, is a wealthy business man with assets estimated around $2.85 billion.