VLADIMIR Putin’s secret daughters have made a very rare public appearance with some speculating it could be part of a Kremlin plan to set up life after the tyrant.
The pair were seen at a crunch forum this week to allegedly get them to rub shoulders with Russia's elites.
Due to the highly unusual nature of Putin’s daughters appearing so publicly, experts have suggested it may be part of a grand plan to cement the family’s place in society in the long run.
Putin's children, Maria Vorontsova, 39, and Katerina Tikhonova, 37, are from his first marriage to Lyudmila Shkrebneva, a former Aeroflot hostess he divorced in 2013.
Throughout his long, treacherous political career, Putin always kept his children out of the limelight.
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Never allowing them to be seen in real life, rarely in photos and barely even speaking a word about them.
With even Russia's state media being forbidden from reporting on his daughters connection to him.
Their wealth, their liberty, their happiness and their livelihood — all of that is bundled up with the fate of the dictator and so they are invested in making sure the system is durable beyond life
Dr Ben Noble
But on Thursday and Friday they popped up on panels at Russia's flagship annual business summit at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
Putin was also making a grand speech at the event.
But, in typical fashion for paranoid Putin, he refused to publicly acknowledge their presence.
The younger sister, Tikhonova, a technology executive, spoke on a panel about the defence industry boosting Russia's “technological sovereignty”.
She said in her opening remarks, delivered via video link: "The sovereignty of the state is one of the key topics of recent years, it is the basis of Russia's security."
PLANNING AHEAD
However the pair have been gradually edging into the public eye, which experts argue is about cementing their position in Russia’s elite – even if Putin eventually does step down.
Dr Ben Noble, associate professor of Russian politics at University College London, said: “The question of succession isn’t just for the dictator, it’s also for the senior members of the elite.
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"Their wealth, their liberty, their happiness and their livelihood — all of that is bundled up with the fate of the dictator and so they are invested in making sure the system is durable beyond life.”
Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist, told the Bloomberg news agency that Putin’s allies were keen to get their children “in the system”.
But both women have faced sanctions from the US and the UK in recent years as officials believe they are hoarding their father's wealth.
Putin could also be grooming his alleged secret nine-year-old son for power as he plots a dynastic succession, according to a new bombshell claim.
According to a bizarre new theory, Putin is said to want to carry on ruling Russia until his undisclosed and hidden son, Ivan, turns 18 and he hands him the Kremlin reins as the country's new tsar.
This would involve changing the Russian constitution - which Putin has had no trouble editing before - which dictates a president must be older than 35.
The strange allegation comes from Russian lawyer, ex-MP and political pundit Mark Feigin, 52, who once represented the iconic anti-Putin punk band Pussy Riot.
Speaking to Ukrainian TV host Dmitry Gordon, who last week quizzed Boris Johnson in Kyiv, claimed that Putin has two young sons with his long term gymnast mistress Alina Kabaeva, 40.
He is also said to have another alleged secret DJ daughter in Luiza Rozova - a child he is rumoured to share with cleaner-turned-multi-millionaire bank owner Svetlana Krivonogikh, 48.
