Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Vladimir Putin won't be too happy with name of daughter's boyfriend

Vladimir Putin won't be too happy with name of daughter's boyfriend

As Vladimir Putin’s forces suffer humiliating setbacks in Ukraine, the name of his daughter’s boyfriend might rub salt in the wounds.

Katerina Tikhonova, 35, is in a relationship with Russian ballet dancer Igor Zelensky, a new investigation has revealed.

Sanctions against her have stopped her flying from Moscow to Munich to be with her man, who has the same surname as Ukrainian president Voloydmyr Zelensky.

Her partner, with whom she has a two-year-old daughter, is a leading dancer and more recently a top director who until recently led the Bavarian State Ballet.

The revelation comes from an investigation by Russian independent news outlet IStories and Germany’s Der Spiegel.

Previously Tikhonova, an acrobatic dancer turned scientist and businesswoman, was wed to Russia’s youngest billionaire Kirill Shamalov, 40.

They split around 2017 when she started a relationship with Zelensky, 52, who was married with two daughters and a son to choreographer Yana Serebryakova.

Zelensky, 52, is thought to have left the Bavarian State Ballet after refusing to condemn Putin’s war in Ukraine


Putin has raged against Russians who live their lives in the West – yet his own daughter was making frequent trips to Munich with full state support and security to spend time with her partner.

Until the invasion of Ukraine was launched earlier this year, it appears she was living with him in Germany

‘For two years, from 2017 to 2019, the little girl’s mother had to fly this route — from Moscow to Munich and back — many dozens of times,’ IStories’ report said.

The journalistic investigation found documents proving flights involving ‘Tikhonova, Zelensky, a child, nannies, security guards’.

It revealed that over a two year period she flew to Munich ‘more than 50 times’ to be with Zelensky.

He is known as one of Russia’s most successful ballet dancers – staring in St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre and the New York City Ballet Company. He was also a guest soloist in London’s Royal Ballet.

Katerina Tikhonova, 35, is said to have a two-year-old daughter with Zelensky


An anonymous source provided documents, emails and passport details from Putin’s security service and Tikhonova’s personal security guard Alexei Skripchak, who was said to have bought the family plane tickets.

Zelensky, who is Russian born with Georgian roots, is not believed to be related to the Ukrainian president.

He quit the Bavarian State Ballet last month, apparently after refusing to condemn Putin’s bloody war in Ukraine.

When asked about his former head, a source at the company told Der Spiegel immediately replied that Zelensky was ‘most likely the partner of Putin’s daughter’.

By the end of 2019, Tikhonova apparently got tired of constantly flying to Munich and decided to move in with her boyfriend, the report says.

Tikhonova’s boyfriend is not believed to be related to Ukraine’s Volodymy Zelensky


This appears to be indicated by a letter stored in an archive of Skripchak, investigators add.

In 2016, before assuming his post in Munich, and prior to his relationship with Putin’s daughter, Zelensky commented on the fallout of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

‘I am not a politician, but they should sit down at the same table and calm down. Art will save the world,’ he said.

There have been long rumours that he had high level patrons in Moscow, but today’s revelation is the first time he has been linked with Putin’s family.

In March, after launching his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president hit out at his countrymen who enjoyed life in the West.

‘I do not condemn those who have a villa in Miami or on the French Riviera, who cannot do without foie gras, oysters or so-called gender freedoms,’ he said.

Putin previously hit out at his fellow Russians who enjoyed life in the West too much


‘The problem is absolutely not in this, but in the fact that many of these people, by their very nature, are mentally there, not here, not with our people, not with Russia.’

The managing director of the Bavarian State Opera Serge Dorney told Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus that Zelensky’s departure from his German ballet was linked to the war.

Evidently thinking he was speaking to Ukraine’s culture minister, he said: ‘We talked with him several times, and I made him come to the conclusion that he should leave.

‘He did not make this decision on his own. We had a conversation with him, and I brought him to this conclusion.’

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×