Vladimir Putin has appointed at least 24 direct or indirect members of his family to official positions, according to revelations from the Russian investigative media Proekt. A wave of appointments which reflects the nepotism of a president who would find it increasingly difficult to trust.

Published on: 07/11/2025 - 18:37

Is this the new “neputism”? Their names are Viktor Khmarin, Anna Tsivileva, Vsevolod Kharchev and Alina Kabaeva. All of them occupy important positions in the Russian state apparatus and, above all, belong to the extended family of Vladimir Putin.

The Russian president has in fact succeeded in placing at least 24 direct or indirect members of his family in positions of responsibility, counted Proekt (Project), an independent Russian investigative site, in an article published Thursday, November 6.

Alina Kabaeva, gymnast and supposed companion of Vladimir Putin, is the chairman of the board of directors of NMG, one of the main private press groups in Russia. Anna Tsivileva, daughter of one of Vladimir Putin's cousins, serves as deputy defense minister. Mikhail Putin, uncle of the Russian president, is the vice-CEO of the giant Gazprom.

And this is just the beginning, Proekt promises a series of revelations on Vladimir Putin-style nepotism and that of other senior Russian officials in the days to come.

Putin in Yeltsin's footsteps?

Such a transformation of administration into a family affair would be unprecedented in nearly 100 years in the country, specifies The Moscow Time, an independent English-speaking Russian daily. In other words, Vladimir Putin is accused of having picked up where the last Russian tsars left off in the business of privatizing power.

Other Russian or Soviet leaders also indulged in nepotism. For example, "Boris Yeltsin [Vladimir Putin's predecessor, Editor's note] was also known for giving power to members of his clan," says Matthew Blackburn, specialist in Russian politics at the Norwegian Institute of International Relations.

“Towards the end of Boris Yeltsin’s term, anyone who wanted to exert any influence had to go through his daughters. It was a way for the president to protect himself,” said Jeff Hawn, a Russia specialist at the London School of Economics.

For him, “Vladimir Putin has only continued and accentuated this Yeltsinian trend.” But not right away. “For a time, the new Russian president promoted a Russia of technocrats who were supposed to be more effective,” specifies Jeff Hawn.

A matter of trust

As soon as the war in Ukraine began, with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the old nepotistic demons quickly took over, insist the experts interviewed by France 24. "The more the autocratic tendencies of the regime manifested themselves, the more Vladimir Putin favored blood ties over the rest", underlines Stephen Hall, Russia specialist at the University of Bath.

“It is above all a question of trust and the members of the family a priori have no other loyalties than towards the president, whereas among his other historical circle of trust – the Siloviki [representatives of the security apparatus, Editor’s note] – Vladimir Putin can never be sure,” specifies Stephen Hall.

Read alsoVladimir Putin, the indestructible Russian president

The conflict with Ukraine, then the open war from 2022, had another effect favoring this phenomenon. “Previously, loyalty was bought, but over time, the resources to maintain this system of patronage began to diminish and it became easier to promote family members,” analyzes Jeff Hawn.

In more than ten years, Vladimir Putin has extended his family network within the state apparatus. And not just by placing close family. So his younger daughter's husband, the choreographer Igor Zelensky - who has no family ties to the Ukrainian president - landed a job overseeing the construction of a theater in Sevastopol. Viktor Khmarin, the son of another of Vladimir Putin's cousins, found himself CEO of RusHydro, the Russian power plant giant.

The Russian president, however, is not creating the basis for a new dynasty. “It is not comparable to Kazakhstan where family clans run entire sections of the economy and where the daughter of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev tried unsuccessfully to succeed her father who had prepared the ground for her,” underlines Matthew Blackburn.

Common or unprecedented nepotism?

In fact, with the exception of a few positions such as Deputy Minister of Defense, Minister of Energy or even Deputy CEO of Gazprom, "most of the positions distributed are second rate", affirms this expert. Building a theater in Sevastopol will not change the face of Russia. Several cousins ​​or sons-in-law work in companies that are certainly important, such as the petrochemical giant Sibur, but not at the top of the hierarchy.

This is why Matthew Blackburn believes that the phenomenon should not be exaggerated either. “It is certainly nepotism, but it is quite close to what is happening at all levels of Russian society,” summarizes this political scientist. He is even surprised that Vladimir Putin named so many children, cousins, uncles, ex-mistresses and others. “He is known to be very secretive about his family and does not accept any questions on the subject. You would have thought that he would avoid this type of mistake because he believes that it can tarnish his image and he is someone who is very careful about the image he projects,” notes Matthew Blackburn.

“He doesn’t necessarily need to have those close to him in the most important positions,” adds Stephen Hall. For him, certain “second-rate” appointments are very strategic: “It’s a way of ensuring the loyalty of the person higher up in the hierarchy. For example, the Minister of Defense will be less tempted to go it alone knowing that his vice-minister belongs to Vladimir Putin’s family,” summarizes Stephen Hall.

For Jeff Hawn, it is also no coincidence that the members of his family who occupy the most prestigious positions work in companies “related to oil exports and banking, the most important sectors for the state coffers”.

Vladimir Putin should, however, be careful not to prioritize blood ties too much over everything else. “The more pieces of the public pie he takes away from other influential factions in Moscow, the more he risks losing their support,” notes Stephen Hall. This expert recalls that the Maidan revolution in 2014 in Ukraine "was partly supported and financed by certain oligarchs who wanted to oppose the growing influence exercised by the son of then-president Viktor Yanukovych".

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