The President of Russia has appointed members of the families of his daughters, wives, lovers, cousins, and sisters to government positions, "Project" reports. The highest positions went to the branch of cousin Yevgeny Putin.
According to the publication "Project", 24 relatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin hold positions related to power. Among others, members of the families of both of Putin's daughters - Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova - receive salaries from the state, as do his cousins, Yevgeny and Igor Putin, as well as his cousins Lyubov Shelomova and Lyubov Kruglova, "Project" reported on Thursday, November 6, citing the results of its investigation.
In addition, Putin helped members of the families of his "four known lovers" - his ex-wife Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, Alina Kabaeva, Svetlana Krivonogikh, and Alisa Kharchova - secure government positions.
The highest-ranking positions went to the relatives of the president's cousin, Yevgeny Putin: representatives Anna Tsivilova, Sergey Tsivilov, and Mikhail Putin received posts in the government and the Gazprom corporation. Anna Tsivilova is the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, her husband Sergey is the Minister of Energy of the country. Tsivilova's brother Mikhail Putin holds a high-ranking position in Gazprom.
The branch of Vladimir Putin's paternal cousin, Lyubov Kruglova, controls another state company: his nephew Viktor Khmarin heads RusHydro. One of the president's sons-in-law, Igor Zelensky (the partner of Katerina Tikhonova), oversaw the construction of a theater in the annexed Sevastopol.
Such a number of relatives in government positions is a record for the Russian ruler in the last 100 years, "Project" writes. Relatives of Putin's predecessors in Russia and the USSR also held positions related to power, but not on such a scale. In particular, no more than five relatives of the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, who was long associated with nepotism in Russian power, can be linked to power, the journalists further note.
