Putin reveals ‘little ones’ in family speak Chinese in rare personal remarks

Russian president makes admission about private life in comments to schoolchildren

Vladimir Putin has said the “little ones” in his family speak fluent Chinese in a rare remark about his personal life.
“Some of my family members, the little ones, speak Chinese too – they speak it fluently,” the Russian president told pupils at a secondary school on Monday in Kyzyl, Tuva, about 2,800 miles east of Moscow.
Putin has two daughters, Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tithonova, with his ex-wife Lyudmila Putina, according to Russian media.
His children, whose lives are shrouded in secrecy, are believed to both be approaching the age of 40. They have both been added to EU and US sanctions lists following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian leader has rarely discussed his personal life and has a tight grip on any information made public.
He and Lyudmila divorced in 2014. They are believed to have at least three grandchildren.
It is claimed that he may have had two or more children, possibly twins, with Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast. It is thought that the pair have had a romantic relationship.
There are also rumours that the Russian president allegedly fathered a love child named Luiza Rozova with Svetlana Krivonogikh, a former cleaner-turned-millionaire.
Suspicions were first raised about Rozova’s existence by independent Russian media outlets. These rumours were later denied by the Kremlin.
A girl by the same name – believed to be at least 21 – stopped posting on social media after news of Putin’s affair with Krivonogikh was made public.
Putin’s remarks about his family members’ language skills are also a nod towards Moscow’s blossoming relations with Beijing.
Russia and China declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022, just days before Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
In May, Putin and Xi Jinping pledged a “new era” in their countries’ relationship, including economic, political and societal initiatives.
The Russian president is known to be a linguist, fluent in German after being stationed there as a KGB officer, and well-spoken in English, with the help of lessons.
His family are said to speak Russian, English, German, and French.
Putin told pupils that they should not, however, disregard English as a language.
“English is a great language, it has given humanity a great deal in terms of combining knowledge and uniting people in the field of culture, and so on,” Putin said.
Russian, English, Tatar, German and Chechen are the most widely spoken languages in Russia, according to Russia’s 2022 census.
English is the world’s most spoken language with about 1.5 billion speakers, according to Ethnologue.
It is followed by Mandarin Chinese with about 1.1 billion speakers, and then Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, French, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu.