- Elizaveta Peskova is the daughter of Vladimir Putin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov.
- The US government sanctioned her and the rest of her family on March 11.
- Peskova told Insider she supports "peace," but would not comment on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
At just 24, Elizaveta Peskova is by any measure successful. She is the founder of a communications firm and the director of a historical foundation, with a master's degree in international relations — her dissertation was on the impact that Turkish and Iranian lobbyists have had on the direction of US foreign policy.
Her Instagram page suggests that she is at the very least not struggling to make ends meet. Blonde-haired and hazel-eyed, Peskova's social media is replete with photos of her in high heels and designer dresses at art galleries and relaxing in the resort beach city of Sochi, alongside a thirst-trap workout video set to music by 50 Cent.
"I completely understand that I have more opportunities than others because of course I don't come from just a simple family," Peskova said in a phone call on Thursday from Moscow. "But, you know, without a brain you cannot transform these possibilities into something."
To say that Peskova does not come from a "simple family" is an understatement. That is why on March 11 the US Treasury Department announced it was imposing sanctions against Peskova and her brother.
Their father is Dmitry Peskov — sanctioned a week earlier — who the US State Department describes as the "chief propagandist of the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin's spokesperson." He is the man who takes Putin's words and attempts to make them more palatable for a Western audience, a job he has held for more than two decades.
"Ideally, Ukraine should be liberated, cleaned from neo-Nazis, from people sharing pro-Nazi sentiment and ideas," Peskov said the day of the Russian invasion, expressing the official line on Russia's operation against a country led by a Jewish president.
I'm upset because I would like to travel, and I love different cultures.Elizaveta Peskova
According to the US, Elizaveta has profited off her family's connections to power. The official announcement of the sanctions against her notes that she has "tens of thousands of followers on social media, where she displays her luxurious lifestyle."
It is unclear how much money she or her father actually have. In 2019, however, The Guardian reported that Peksov's wife had amassed real estate holdings worth more than $10 million. Tatiana Navka, an ice dancer who took home a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics before marrying Peksov in 2015, has also been sanctioned.
Peskova, who says she is a self-made woman, told Insider that she was blindsided by the sanctions and, in particular, the accusation that she is "enabling war."
"For me, it's totally unfair and unfounded," she said. "I was really surprised because it's weird introducing sanctions [on] someone who is 24 years old and has nothing to do with the situation."
It won't impact her financially, she said — though like other Russians, she has felt the impact of broader sanctions and the country's isolation from the global financial system — but it does mean there will be no more trips to places like New York City, where she remembers visiting Times Square with her father when she was nine.
"I'm upset because I would like to travel, and I love different cultures," she said.
In a speech this week, Putin derided Russians who "live over there — live, not in the geographical sense, but in the sense of their thoughts, their slavish thinking," and described them as "scum" and "traitors."
Peskova wouldn't talk about politics. But, to that, she would say that "I am a citizen of the world, and I can't do anything about it."
And she insists that though she enjoys a "very deep connection with my father," she is not her dad — and should not be held responsible for Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which he defends every day.
Despite her connections to the Kremlin, Peskova said she, too, was blindsided by what her father and his boss describe as a "special military operation," which has now killed more than 700 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. The actual number is likely far higher, with Russia accused of deliberately targeting hospitals, apartment buildings, and shelters for those trying to hide from its bombs.
"I think everyone was surprised, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's okay to be surprised in this situation," Peskova said.
On the day of the attack, Peskova appeared to criticize her government, posting the words "no to war" in a since-deleted Instagram Live broadcast. Russia has since banned the platform (her last post directs followers to her Telegram account).
Today, she claims she did not necessarily mean to criticize any one conflict in particular.
"When I say it, I mean that I am for peace, not only in Ukraine but all around the world," she said. In Ukraine, specifically, she said she will "not talk about the situation going on — I can only speak about the sanctions and I can only say what I feel and what I think about the sanctions."
Even if she wanted to say more, there is a reason why she might fear doing so, even if her privilege provides some level of security not enjoyed by thousands of jailed antiwar protesters. Speaking out against Russia's invasion — even calling it a "war" instead of "special military operation" — could land someone up to 15 years behind bars for spreading "fake" news, thanks to a new law the State Duma passed in early March.
In light of the increasing repression in Russia, it may be too late for sanctions to create a split among its elites.
I think that's why the original responses may be antiwar. But then, because they remain the children of Putin's elites, they remain loyal and compliant with Putin's policies.Maria Snegovaya, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security
Maria Snegovaya, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the main goal of US sanctions at this point is not so much to bring about that elite split but to "make the Kremlin run out of resources and show to elites in other autocratic states what happens if they grossly violate the international rules."
Snegovaya suspects that the children of Russia's political elites, many of whom have spent a good deal of time traveling and living abroad, probably do prefer the cultural and democratic values they encountered elsewhere.
"I think that's why the original responses may be antiwar. But then, because they remain the children of Putin's elites, they remain loyal and compliant with Putin's policies," she said. After Peskova posted her initial response to the invasion, "She quickly deleted it, probably because her father told her, 'Hey, what the hell are you doing?'"
Financial penalties and travel prohibitions are one way to force Russia's elite to think more carefully about which side they are choosing.
"You have to pick a side," Snegovaya said. "And what we see from Elizaveta's behavior is that it really works. It hurts. She's unhappy with the sanctions. That at least is good enough."
Peskova, for her part, disagrees with that logic — and she is, naturally, predisposed to thinking that sanctions on her and other Russians are unfair, coming from a country, she noted, that invaded Iraq. She maintains that they will not have their desired effect, suggesting that the idea elites like her could impact policy in Russia is a faulty assumption.
"They think that we will have an impact, but it's a very big delusion," she said. "Western countries just do not understand how the Russian system works."
But if the thinking behind sanctions is to spur elites to speak out (the other part is to simply punish them for being a part of the machine) then, whether she is willing to admit it or not, they could at least be prompting reflection.
For now, Peksova won't say more about her country's "special military operation" — its unprovoked war of aggression against a neighbor — though she acknowledged that having nothing to say about Russia's bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, or its strike against a theater in the Ukrainian port city that was sheltering women and children, might make people less sympathetic to the plight of a Russian socialite.
"I don't want my words twisted and I don't trust anyone," she said. "I just don't want to talk about it now. Like maybe in a week or in two weeks. Because I'm also shocked. I'm also very upset. And I'm also, like, maybe it's not the right time to talk about it? Maybe in a week or two, when I start seeing the whole, when I start understanding, no — like maybe it's just not the right time actually right now."
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