Is Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova Putin's Daughter? Dancer's Colleague Says Yes, Then No

Acrobatic rock 'n' roll dancer Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova is Russia President Vladimir Putin's daughter, a Reuters report has claimed.

This is the second time in two years that the news agency has disclosed Putin's relationship to 31-year-old Tikhonova, who it says uses a surname inherited from her grandmother.

While Tikhonova's identity has been widely assumed, it has never been confirmed by Tikhonova herself, her representatives or the Kremlin.

This time around, a colleague of Tikhonova confirmed she was the younger daughter of the Russian president, according to Reuters.

However, he later denied it and said he had misheard the question from Reuters.

The vice president for legal affairs of World Rock‘n‘Roll Confederation (WRRC), Manfred Mohab, in an interview Sunday told Reuters during a dance event that he came to know Tikhonova since the time they were working together on the confederation's presidium.

According to the report, on being asked whether he knew Tikhonova was Putin’s daughter, he said: “Yes. I know her, yes of course.” Asked a second time, he nodded and said: “Yes.”

However, he later denied the fact on a telephonic call to Reuters and said, “I can’t confirm that I know the daughter of Mr. Putin. I have nothing to do with them.”

In 2015, the deputy chairman of the board of directors at Russian lender Gazprombank, Andrey Akimov, had confirmed to Reuters that Tikhonova was Putin’s daughter.

However after the Reuters report was published, Gazprombank in a statement said, “Akimov made no such statements."

Reuters stood by the accuracy of the quotes and the story.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then did not deny that Tikhonova is Putin’s daughter but said he could “refute” the Reuters special report.

After the latest report, the Kremlin and Tikhonova are yet to respond to requests for comment.

Tikhonova was born on August 31, 1986 at Dresden, East Germany. She is the daughter from Putin's marriage to his ex-wife Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya, reported the heavy.com.

Tikhonova attended a private school — German School Moscow — in Moscow. She has a degree in Asian Studies from St. Petersburg State University.

She is an accomplished acrobatic rock‘n‘roll dancer, a niche dance discipline; she has competed in many dance events and helps manage them through senior positions at the WRRC and the Russian national federation.

She also works at the Moscow State University where she is a director of the National Intellectual Development Foundation and the National Intellectual Reserve Centre (NIRC). She is also the director of a $1.7 billion development project called Innopraktika which aims to create a science center at the university.

Tikhonova is married to Kirill Shamalov, son of Putin’s friend and co-owner of Rossiya Bank Nikolay Shamalov. Her husband is the vice president of Sibur Holding — a Russian gas company, 38 percent of whose shares is owned by the Russian government.

The couple had an estimated net worth of $2 billion in 2015, Reuters reported.

According to the 2015 report by Reuters, the couple also owns a seaside villa in Biarritz, France, which is estimated to be worth $3.7 million.