Putin's family owns luxury estates in Moscow and France, spending millions to renovate them, leaks say

Katerina Tikhonova, daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, dances with Ivan Klimov during the World Rock and Roll and Acrobatics Championships in Krakow, Poland, April 12, 2014. SHAMALOV REUTERS/Jakub Dabrowski TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

The Putin family owns expensive real estate through offshore companies, according to an investigation by a Russian publication. Proekt said the sites are near Putin's Moscow mansion. The Russian president has long sought to hide the vast wealth belonging to him and his family.

According to a report, Russian President Vladimir Putin gifted valuable real estate to members of his family through a network of offshore firms, an investigation by independent Russian media outlet Proekt has found. According to the report, ownership of these properties was established based on correspondence from Putin's former son-in-law Kirill Shamanov that was leaked to Russian independent media. According to the emails, Putin bought plots of land near his Novo-Ogarevo mansion outside Moscow and transferred them to his adult daughters and their mother, hiding the true ownership.

Putin has lived for years in this mansion outside Moscow, which, according to Proekt, is equipped with a bathhouse, swimming pool, gym and secret railroad. Russian air defense systems recently shot down a drone near the mansion, reports claim.

Media reports say Putin has two adult daughters by his first wife, Lyudmila Shkrebneva, but he rarely talks about them and has not confirmed their identities. One is Maria Vorontsova, a scientist, and the other is Katerina Tikhonova, a scientist and businesswoman who also competes in dance competitions, the U.S. government says.

According to emails cited by Proekt, Tikhonova's land was registered first in the name of an offshore company and then in the name of her then-husband, Shamalov. Meanwhile, Vorontsova's land was registered in the name of offshore companies. Proekt said the emails show that Shamalov and Tikhonova discussed $9 million worth of luxury renovations they planned to make to their property. The couple custom ordered a gilded chandelier for their dining room, "at a cost equivalent to the price of a small apartment in the suburbs of Moscow - $72,000," the report said.

According to the information, Putin's nearby property was also owned by Shkrebneva, Putin's ex-wife, and her new partner, although it was registered in Shamalov's name. In addition to expensive real estate in Moscow, Proekt also reported that Tikhonova and Shamalov own a mansion in Biarritz, in the south of France, which they have lavishly decorated.

Proekt reported that after parting ways with Tikhonova in 2018, Shamalov was suddenly stripped of his real estate in Novo-Ogarevo, as well as his 20 percent stake, worth about $2 billion, in the oil and gas company Sibur.

Putin has long kept his personal life out of the public eye, but he is also believed to have children with Alina Kabaeva, his lover.

Putin's holdings are notoriously shady and scattered, and his actual wealth may be linked to a number of partners and wealthy Russians, according to previous reports. The U.S. and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on Putin and his adult daughters over the invasion of Ukraine. However, the inability to establish exactly what Putin owns makes it difficult to truly assess the impact of direct sanctions on his assets, Juliana Kaplan previously reported.