The first-ever photo of Vladimir Putin’s youngest son, Vladimir Jr., has emerged, raising new questions about the Russian president’s hidden family life and the vast sums spent on his children’s education.
Born in Moscow in 2019, Vladimir Jr., now six years old, is the second child of Putin and former Olympic gold medal gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 42. While his older brother Ivan, 10, has been seen publicly before, this is the first time the younger son has been pictured. Both boys reportedly live and study in secrecy at Putin’s heavily guarded Valdai estate.
Luxury tutoring inside a hidden palace
According to Russian anti-corruption activist Maria Pevchikh, the brothers are taught by two private tutors who each earn more than £320,000 a year. Pevchikh, a close ally of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, claims the tutors Sofia Bozic, 33, from Bosnia, and Irene Ens, 36, from Germany are paid not by Putin himself, but through a company linked to billionaire Gennady Timchenko.
Instant eSIM for Secure Global Travel
Skip SIM lines and connect in seconds. Stay online abroad with privacy and no surprise roaming bills.
Get Your eSIM Now → Works with most modern smartphones • Fast setup • Coverage in popular destinationsTimchenko, 72, is a long-time Putin ally with an estimated fortune of £16 billion. Pevchikh’s investigation alleges that since summer 2024, his company Ena-Invest has paid the salaries of the boys’ German language tutors. She says the payments amount to about 2,900,000 rubles per month, more than seven times the annual salary of a German teacher in Russia’s provinces.
Oligarch funding allegations
Pevchikh’s report, published by anti-corruption investigators, describes Timchenko as Putin’s “cashbox,” funding the family’s lifestyle beyond the president’s official £94,000-a-year salary. She claims Timchenko has given £4.6 million to Kabaeva’s foundation and £4.2 million to a clinic linked to Putin’s eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova.
“That’s the essence of the corruption system built by Vladimir Putin,” Pevchikh said. “From the very start of his first presidential term, it was designed this way and it continues to develop at a furious pace.”
Inside the Valdai estate
The Valdai residence, located in a remote forest area, is guarded by multiple air defense systems and surrounded by an exclusion zone larger than Malta. It reportedly includes a karting track and a massive children’s playground painted in the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine. The estate also has its own railway station for Putin’s personal armored train, according to Reuters.
Public reaction and political impact
The release of the first image of Vladimir Jr., combined with the tutor salary revelations, has fueled public debate about the extent of Putin’s hidden wealth. Critics have long accused him of secretly being one of the richest men in the world, with assets funneled through loyal oligarchs. These new details provide some of the clearest evidence yet of such financial arrangements.
For now, the Kremlin has not responded to the allegations. Putin’s private life remains officially off-limits in Russian state media, and his children are rarely acknowledged in public statements.
Disclosure: We may earn a commission when you make a purchase through the ads.