Investigators identify Putin's eight-year-old granddaughter as Elza Tikhonova
Russian investigative outlet Proekt has identified Vladimir Putin's eight-year-old granddaughter as Elza Igorevna Tikhonova, daughter of Katerina Tikhonova and ballet dancer Igor Zelensky, using a leaked border service database.
Investigative journalists at the Russian outlet Proekt say they have uncovered the name of Vladimir Putin's granddaughter, an eight-year-old girl called Elza Igorevna Tikhonova. Her mother is Katerina Tikhonova, head of the Innopraktika foundation and Putin's younger daughter, while her father is ballet dancer Igor Zelensky.
The girl carries her mother's invented surname but retained her father's patronymic. Proekt's reporters believe she may have been named after the animated character Princess Elsa from Frozen, pointing to Tikhonova's known enthusiasm for Hollywood productions — at her wedding to her first husband, Kirill Shamalov, she reportedly performed a song originally sung by the title character of the animated film Anastasia.
The girl's identity was uncovered through analysis of a leaked Federal Border Service database. In November 2019, shortly before turning two, she flew with her parents to Munich aboard a business jet operated by the German carrier Air Hamburg, now rebranded as VistaJet. Two years later, records show she traveled to Croatia on a Bombardier Global 5000.
A family kept out of sight
Russia's president is known for shielding his relatives from public view, with family members living under assumed surnames. Journalistic investigations have previously established that Putin has three daughters: Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, born to his former wife Lyudmila Putina, and Luiza Rozova, born outside marriage to Svetlana Krivonogikh.
Putin also has two sons with gymnast Alina Kabaeva, named Ivan and Vladimir Spiridonov. Additionally, he has a grandson, Roman Faassen, born to Vorontsova and her first husband, Dutch national Jorrit Faassen.
