Vladimir Putin is grooming his ‘boogie woogie dancing’ daughter Katerina, 31, to lead Russia when he eventually quits
Acrobatic dancer Katerina Tikhonova - who uses her grandmother's family name - is married to Russia's youngest billionaire
VLADIMIR Putin is grooming his younger daughter for tsardom to takeover from him as president in six years — so launching a new Kremlin dynasty, it is claimed.
Until now, Katerina Tikhonova, 31, was best known for her spectacular boogie woogie dancing, but she also has a secretive business career and is married to Russia's youngest billionaire oligarch.
Now a leading political analyst has forecast that Putin - poised to announce he will seek a new six year term in the Kremlin starting in March next year - is examining the idea of handing over in 2024 to his daughter, christened Ekaterina.
There are few women in Kremlin politics and the last Russian empress in her own right was another Ekaterina - Catherine the Great - who ruled from 1762 to 1796.
"Trying to run a woman through an election campaign in Russia is quite an interesting and modern political experiment," explained Natalia Gevorkyan, a Putin biographer who also appears to hint the president has an undisclosed son without providing more details.
"Putin does not have a (male) heir - at least officially - but he has two daughters, and one of them, Ekaterina, has already entered the public space with several huge and costly projects," she wrote for Radio Svoboda website.
"In 2024, Ekaterina will be 38. In theory, she can take part in the presidential elections and provide a calm time in old age for her father and his closest friends."
Under the Russian constitution, Putin would be disqualified from standing again in 2024, when he will be 71.
Experts have long pondered how he will resolve the problem of finding a successor he can truly trust to protect his legacy and the fortunes of his close circle.
So far most speculation has revolved around several of his ex-bodyguards he has parachuted into politics by road testing them as governors.
But the idea of Putin's own daughter in a new dynasty is intriguing.
It is a century since Russia gave up the hereditary principle with the abdication of tragic Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 who was shot with his family by a Bolshevik death squad the following year.
"From people who have been in touch with her recently, I know that Ekaterina is really interested," stated Gevorkyan, the daughter of a KGB general, of her public role.
"It is not just a formal and empty presence for her but a real interest and involvement."
The Putin biographer links the move to the Kremlin leader's agreement to allow a prominent woman to stand against him in the March 2018 poll.
Former Playboy model and TV presenter Kseniya Sobchak - rumoured to be Putin's "goddaughter" - spoke to him before announcing she would stand as a liberal candidate.
But the 35 year old promised not to personally criticise Putin, who was a protege of her late father Anatoly Sobchak, the former mayor of St Petersburg.
Putin attended her Orthodox christening when she was a schoolgirl.
But Ms Sobchak is "not a threat to Putin", who has staggering 80 per cent approval ratings according to polls, said Ms Gevorkyan.
By agreeing to take part in a less than free and fair election Ms Sobchak will harm her chances in future when Putin could anoint his daughter as his chosen successor.
A spectacular video last year showed Katerina Tikhonova - who uses her maternal grandmother's family name - in the the World Championship of Acrobatic Rock'n'roll with dance partner Dmitry Alexeyev.
No official announcement has been made that she is Putin's daughter from his marriage to ex-wife Lyudmila, although this is widely accepted in Moscow.
Katerina - or Ekaterina - is married to Russia's youngest billionaire Kirill Shamalov, 35 , who is worth £950million.
She was reported to have been put in charge of a £1.1 billion expansion of Moscow State University, the country's most famous higher education institution.
Her sister Maria, 32, is reportedly married to a Dutch businessman with whom she has a daughter, making Putin a grandfather.
Putin has said previously of his daughters: "They are taking the first steps in their careers, but are making good progress. They are not involved in business or politics."
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