Putin's Grandson Registered Under Mother's Surname Tikhonov, Not Father's Name Zelensky

The son of Katerina Tikhonova, the younger daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, does not carry the surname of his presumed father. According to the German newspaper Bild, the child's father is believed to be former ballet dancer Igor Zelensky, whose surname is nearly identical to that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for several years.

A delayed registration

Information obtained by the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo indicates that the boy, Adrian, was born in Moscow on 15 August 2025. He was given his mother's surname, Tikhonov. Bild suggests the decision was made to avoid an awkward association with the Ukrainian leader.

The birth was officially registered only on 10 July 2026, almost 11 months after the child was born. In Russia, a newborn normally has to be registered within a month, so the long delay has raised questions. It is not known why the paperwork took so long.

A similar earlier case

This is not the first time a child's surname has been changed in the family. Tikhonova and Zelensky had a daughter, Elsa, in 2017, who was initially given her father's surname. It later emerged that the girl had also used a passport bearing her mother's surname. This suggests the family had earlier tried to avoid a public link with the Zelensky name, although the exact reasons have not been confirmed.

Who is Igor Zelensky

Zelensky is a well-known Russian ballet dancer who once headed the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich. International media reported on his relationship with Putin's daughter as early as 2022, noting that the couple regularly travelled between Russia and Germany. Despite the shared surname, Igor Zelensky is not known to be related to the Ukrainian president.