The eldest known daughter of Vladimir Putin has offered an insight into her view of the Ukraine war her father is waging, according to a report that allegedly shows messages she posted in a social media chat group.
While her identity is almost considered a Russian state secret and it has never been publicly confirmed, the Russian president's first born is widely considered to be Maria Vorontsova, a pediatric endocrinologist who turned 37 last month.
Dmitry Kolezev, editor-in-chief of the Kremlin critical Russian language website Republic, said that he had obtained screenshots of her comments posted on the Telegram chat group used by around 170 alumni of Moscow State University's Medical Department.
In the report, also covered by independent news outlet Meduza, Kolezev said he did "not have 100 percent confirmation" that it was Putin's daughter.
But sources within the chat group told him it was her and biographical details she shared on the site also chime with what is known about her publicly. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Beefs With the West
Under the handle "Maria V", Putin's purported daughter joined the group last year and in her messages she repeats some of the beefs that the Russian president has about the West.
"Nobody in the West needs our country to be prosperous," one post attributed to her said. "They've always done everything possible to ensure this doesn't happen. And they'll continue to do so."
Kolezev wrote in his article that her messages showed that she didn't "directly approve" of the war in Ukraine. But Kolezev said she in general backs the Kremlin narrative that Russia "is not an aggressor, but a victim, and is forced to defend itself."
During the discussion of the Ukraine war, she refers to how the U.S. also starts wars, and when the conversation turns to the personal responsibility of the president, she said: "What naivety. That's child's talk.
"Blaming everything and putting all responsibility on one person is the same as putting your faith in one person, like a tsar. Same cr*p," she said. "We are not like the Germans in the 1930s, rather like the ones whom they banished."
"If suddenly, like almost happened in the 90s, Russia becomes a full-fledged raw-material appendage of the United States and EU, I'll be interested to see whom you blame for the fact that we're not living in a prosperous economy."
In another exchange, she criticized a chat member for using the word "annexation" to describe Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014.
She said the term overlooks "the will of the people" in reference to a referendum held on the peninsula, which was criticized internationally, but which the Kremlin used as a mandate to incorporate it into Russian territory.
The alleged views of Vorontsova come as a joint investigation reported Putin's other daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, flew between Moscow and Munich more than 50 times between 2017 and 2019 to see her alleged partner, Igor Zelensky.
The report by German publication Der Spiegel and independent outlet iStories cited four sources that Zelensky, one of Russia's most successful ballet dancers, was the partner of Tikhonova, who is a 35-year-old scientist.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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