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According to people familiar with the matter, the European Union is considering sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughters as the bloc tries to respond to the killing of Ukrainian civilians by retreating Russian soldiers. The proposed group includes dozens of other individuals, including political figures, tycoons and their household members, and several propagandists. It still needs to be approved by European governments and could change before that happens. Sanctioning Putin’s daughters, Katerina and Maria, is largely symbolic, as it is unclear whether they have significant assets outside of Russia, but it is intended to draw the president’s attention. His daughters’ lives are shrouded in secrecy; they have different maiden names, and the Kremlin has never confirmed their names or released photographs of them.
Putin revealed a few details about his daughters in 2015, including the fact that both women did graduate from Russian universities and speak several languages.
According to people familiar with the matter, his older daughter, Maria Vorontsova, is a co-owner of Nomenko, which is engaged in Russia’s largely private investment proposal in health care. Katerina Tikhonova is the director of the Moscow State University’s artificial intelligence institute.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said in a text message that he was unaware of the proposal and would wait to see what was officially published.
The EU also intends to target more than a dozen defense-related entities, as well as four banks that have been disconnected from the global payments system SWIFT but have not yet been fully sanctioned, including VTB Bank PJSC. In addition, it proposes a ban on Russian coal imports.
All 27 EU members must approve the sanctions package.
