Putin’s reported grandson registered with mother’s surname, Russian outlet says

A son reportedly born in 2025 to Katerina Tikhonova, the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was registered using her family name rather than the surname of ballet dancer Igor Zelensky, his presumed father, according to reporting by Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo.

The account draws on leaked civil registry records, according to the independent Russian-language news outlet Meduza, which reported on Agentstvo’s findings. Those records reportedly indicate that the boy’s birth was registered almost a year after he was born. No explanation for that reported gap has been established.

The surname entered for the child was Tikhonov, the masculine form of Tikhonova. The records cited in the reporting also included his patronymic, a component of a name derived from the father’s first name. Meduza identified Igor Zelensky as the presumed father of the boy.

The dancer has the same surname as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, although the two are unrelated. That shared name provides the context for claims about the choice of the child’s surname. Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Daily Mail attributed the use of the mother’s surname to an effort to avoid an association with Ukraine’s president. However, the underlying reporting does not establish that explanation. It also does not show that anyone prohibited the child from receiving the surname Zelensky, leaving the reason for the choice unknown.

Reports linking Tikhonova and the ballet dancer predate the latest account. In 2022, Russian investigative outlet iStories and Germany’s Der Spiegel published an investigation that found evidence of a long-term relationship between them. The pair also appeared to have a child together, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project’s account of that investigation.

Igor Zelensky formerly headed the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich. The Guardian covered the relationship investigation when it appeared in 2022 and likewise noted that the dancer had no family connection to the Ukrainian president, despite their shared surname.

Putin has disclosed little publicly about his family. The latest claims concerning the boy’s birth, the timing of his registration and his registered surname depend on the records cited by Agentstvo. Coverage by the other outlets does not constitute independent verification of those records.