Paris and anti-war art: workplace of Putin’s rumoured illegitimate daughter revealed

Vladimir Putin. Photo: Getty Images

A woman believed to be the illegitimate daughter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been discovered in Paris. Elizaveta Krivonogikh (also known as Luiza Rozova and Elizaveta Rudnova) who continues to live in what the Russian propaganda machine refers to as the “decadent West” amid Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine, has found a job in the art world.

Source: Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza, citing Russian poet and writer Nastya Rodionova in a Facebook post

Details: Rudnova works as an assistant manager at the Parisian art galleries L Galerie and Studio Albatros, whose exhibitions have featured Russian and Ukrainian anti-war artists.

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Rudnova’s resemblance to the Russian leader only fuels rumours that he is her father

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Rodionova said she did not think it possible to keep this information to herself, saying that most of the artists she knew who exhibited at these galleries had no idea who they were dealing with. Although the speculation as to the identity of Rudnova’s father is just that – speculation – there is quite a lot of information available about her mother: “A former St Petersburg cleaner, today Svetlana Krivonogikh is the billionaire owner of yachts and ski resorts and a shareholder in the Bank of Russia and the National Media Group.” She has been sanctioned by the UK government since 2023.

“I believe in the presumption of innocence, that children are not responsible for the crimes of their parents,” Rodionova wrote. “But in the midst of a war, a person from the family of the regime’s beneficiaries coming into contact with its victims is unacceptable. Does Liza understand this at the age of 22, or does the responsibility lie with her surroundings? Obviously, the number of questions raised by this information is off the charts…”

Rodionova said she had met with Dmitry Dolinsky, the director of L’association, the umbrella organisation which L Galerie and Studio Albatros are part of. He confirmed that Elizaveta Rudnova does indeed work at the gallery, but said that he “doesn’t ask people about their family tree”. He told Meduza that the young woman does indeed “look like Putin’s daughter” as she appears in previously posted photographs, and that she was studying in Paris and doing an internship as part of her course.

Before the full-scale invasion, Louise (Elizaveta) tried her hand at modelling and DJing and ran social media accounts

Rodionova says that Rudnova holds the position of a curator, although not an art curator, but rather in a third role: she helps with video filming, likely takes part in seeking out artists, and arranged an interview with one artist.

Sources from the Parisian art community describe Rudnova as “an intelligent person”, “a great collaborator and a wonderful girl who understands everything”.

Dolinsky said he hired Rudnova in October 2024.

“I believe that a son is not responsible for his father. Even if we hypothetically assume that [she is Putin’s daughter – ed.], although no one has any evidence, should we shoot everyone like what happened to the Romanovs [the family of Tsar Nicholas II, who were executed in 1918]? What was I supposed to tell her? ‘I can’t hire you because of the kind of mother you have’? We don’t hire people’s mothers,” he said, adding that if he had refused to hire Rudnova on those grounds, as an employer, he could be punished under the law.

Putin, 72, carefully hides the number of his descendants from the public

Photo: Getty Images

Dolinsky also noted that Elizaveta has not lived in Russia for several years, and none of the artists had any reason to suspect that she was “in any way supportive of the policy of the Russian state or the war”.

“She lived with her mother and does not know her father,” Dolinsky said.

Background: Last year, TSN journalists located the French university where Elizaveta Rudnova was studying. Recently, a Russian Telegram channel shared a photo claiming to show another of the Russian ruler’s supposed secret descendants, a son he is said to have had with former gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

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