The daughters of Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin, Mariya and Katerina, who are in their 30s, are presumed to have developed the same narcissistic traits as their father, a trauma expert said.
Caroline Strawson, a therapist, believes that Mariya and Katerina have likely developed a trauma response because they have experienced their father's narcissistic tendencies as children. This trauma response may be a form of survival mode that leads the daughters to behave in certain ways.
Speaking with Daily Express, Strawson said that Putin and his ex-wife, Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya, have made efforts to shield Mariya and Katerina from the public. However, because of the environment they grew up in, Mariya and Katerina, may have received their parents' version of love and affection that have turned them into "entitled and potentially narcissistic" people as well.
Strawson is speaking about the intergenerational trauma that exists in all families. She said that Putin is known to have spoiled his daughters because he was also treated like a "golden child" by his own parents. But because Putin doesn't talk about his private life or his daughters in public, the consequence of this silence may also trigger feelings of inadequacy from his daughters.
"Usually, if one parent is a narcissist, this means the other is co-dependent," Strawson explained. "Normally this will then mean the child will either become a narcissist or a co-dependent themselves."
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Mariya and Katerina's Childhood and Adult Life
Reports cited that Mariya and Katerina were born more than a year apart in the 1980s when their father worked for the KGB. Their names were derived from their paternal grandmother, Maria Ivanovna Shelomova.
When Putin became the acting president of Russia, the girls were pulled out of school and shifted to homeschooling, per Business Insider. Mariya and Katerina then studied in Moscow for college using false identities. Mariya went to medical school while her younger sister took Asian Studies.
Mariya has been married to a Dutch national and works as a medical researcher in Moscow. It is unclear how many children they have, but in 2017, Putin acknowledged that he's a grandfather.
On the other hand, Katerina is a self-made billionaire who has built a start-up and delved into acrobatic dancing on the side. She was married to a Russian billionaire until their 2018 divorce.
Putin's Second Family
Meanwhile, rumors abound that Putin's second partner, Alina Kabaeva, a former gold-winning Olympian gymnast, has been staying in Switzerland with their four young kids. Sources for Page Six stated that Putin and Kabaeva have twin daughters, age seven, born in the Central European country. They also have twin boys, allegedly born in 2019.
In 2008, a Russian newspaper alleged that Putin was planning to divorce his first wife to marry Kabaeva. Kremlin, however, denied the story and ordered the closure of the local paper.
In 2014, Putin and Ocheretnaya did end their marriage after three decades while Kabaeva went on to work at the National Media Group, as appointed by Kremlin. In a rare interview, she has denied having children and has stayed out of the spotlight just like Putin's adult daughters.
