How Putin's ‘secret daughter' lives lavish life in exile as mum went from cleaner to millionaire after Vlad ‘affair'

The Sun

2 days ago

IN the shadow of Russia's president, she lived like a princess - jet-setting in private planes, dripping in designer gear, and sipping champagne behind Gucci facemasks.
Now, Vladimir Putin's rumoured secret daughter has seemingly turned her back on her gilded past — and on the man alleged to be her father.
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Elizaveta Krivonogikh, 22 – also known as Luiza Rozova and now Elizaveta Rudnova - is now living in self-imploded exile in Paris.
There, she works at two anti-war art galleries while launching thinly veiled attacks on Putin, blasting the "man who took millions of lives and destroyed mine".
She hasn't named the Russian despot directly — but the target of her cryptic fury couldn't be clearer.
She recently wrote on her private Telegram channel Art of Luiza: "It's liberating to be able to show my face to the world again.
"It reminds me of who I am and who destroyed my life."
From Gucci to guilt
Born in 2003 during Putin's first term in office, Elizaveta was the result — according to persistent allegations — of a clandestine affair between the then-rising Kremlin strongman and Svetlana Krivonogikh, a former cleaner turned multimillionaire.
Svetlana, now in her 40s, went from scrubbing floors to owning a stake in sanctioned Rossiya Bank and a property empire worth over $100 million.
She also owns a raunchy St Petersburg nightclub, Leningrad Centre, known for its erotic shows.
Elizaveta grew up drenched in luxury - private jets, exclusive nightclubs, and designer wardrobes.
She would flaunt her life of privilege on Instagram while Russia grappled with poverty and pandemic chaos.
But in early 2022, just before Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine, she abruptly vanished from Russian social media.
The Paris pivot
She re-emerged in Paris under a new name - Elizaveta Rudnova - reportedly in a bid to sever ties with her past.
Ukrainian TV later claimed she was living in the French capital with a passport under the name Rudnova, allegedly ditching the patronymic Vladimirovna, which would confirm her father's name as Vladimir.
Her new surname is a likely nod to the late Oleg Rudnov, one of Putin's longtime cronies.
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Graduating from the prestigious ICART School of Cultural and Art Management in 2024, she has since taken on a role at two Parisian galleries — L Galerie in Belleville and Espace Albatros in Montreuil — both known for hosting anti-war and dissident exhibitions.
Her responsibilities reportedly include curating exhibitions and producing video content.
But her presence in Paris's dissident art circles has sparked fury.
'She looks like Putin'
Not everyone in the expat art world is ready to forgive — or forget.
Artist Nastya Rodionova, who fled Russia in 2022, publicly severed ties with the two galleries upon learning of Elizaveta's involvement.
She posted on Facebook: "It is inadmissible to allow a person who comes from a family of beneficiaries of [Putin's] regime to come into confrontation with the victims of that regime.
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"My personal answer in this case is no."
Dmitry Dolinsky, director of L Association which runs both galleries, stood by Elizaveta.
He told The Times: 'She looks like Putin but so do 100,000 other people. I haven't seen a DNA test."
Still, the circumstantial evidence is hard to ignore — the timing of her birth, her mother's overnight fortune, and the uncanny facial resemblance which an AI expert pegged at 70 per cent similarity to Putin.
Who is Luiza Rozova?
LUIZA Rozova, born Elizaveta Krivonogikh, is the 22-year-old rumoured illegitimate daughter of Vladimir Putin.
She is allegedly the love child from an affair between the dictator and his former cleaner, Svetlana Krivonogikh.
These claims were first made by the Kremlin-critical investigative project "Proekt" back in 2020.
She often used to share details of her lavish life on Instagram, until the page was suddenly taken down around the time of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Luiza is reported to have moved to Paris and graduated from a course at the ICART School of Cultural and Art Management in June 2024.
She posts in a private Telegram channel called "Art of Luiza", where she has made allusions to her reported father.
Rewriting the story
Once the toast of Moscow's rich kids scene, Luiza now presents herself as a politically conscious exile.
Her posts have shifted from flaunting Miu Miu and Maison Margiela to cryptic denouncements of tyranny and war.
"The man who took millions of lives and destroyed mine," she wrote, pointedly.
She also lamented: "I can't make an extra lap around my beloved St. Petersburg.
"I can't visit my favourite places and establishments."
An older post from 2021 saw her share an extraordinary 'make love, not war' message, in the wake of street protests which saw 5,100-plus arrests by heavily armed police.
Her transformation hasn't gone unnoticed — nor has her attempt to claim space in the anti-Putin resistance, even as her background screams privilege.
But some, like Rodionova, still see her as as a symbol of the very elite that profited from Putin's long reign — a hidden child from a hidden empire.
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Vlad's 'lover'
Her mother, Svetlana, has never publicly confirmed the affair, but has become a posterwoman for the sudden, unexplained enrichment of Putin's inner circle.
She was sanctioned by the UK in 2023 and is said to own assets across Moscow, St Petersburg, and Sochi.
When independent outlet Proekt first exposed the story, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he'd 'never heard anything' about Krivonogikh — an evasion that only intensified speculation.
Putin, who officially recognises only two daughters from his previous marriage, has never acknowledged Luiza — nor denied her.
Will there be peace in Ukraine?
THE prospect of peace in Ukraine remains uncertain as the Russia-Ukraine war continues into its fourth year.
Recent U.S.-brokered talks, including direct negotiations in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2, 2025, have yielded no breakthroughs, though agreements on prisoner exchanges signal some dialogue.
US President Donald Trump has pushed for a ceasefire, shortening a 50-day deadline for Russia to negotiate or face sanctions, but tensions persist with Russian advances in eastern Ukraine and intensified drone and missile strikes on cities like Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested territorial swaps, while Russia shows little willingness to compromise.
With ongoing military escalation and divergent American and European approaches, a lasting peace deal appears distant.