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The 32-year-old daughter of Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, American-born Ekaterina Solovyova, from his second marriage, lives in Moscow, openly criticizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine on social media and directs feminist plays, according to a report by independent media outlet Verstka. Solovyov’s daughter has not been publicly reported on before; earlier in May, Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundaton (ACF) released an investigation into another secret family of Solovyov's – one with two children by basketball player Svetlana Abrosimova.
The journalists claim that Ekaterina, who criticizes restrictive laws and calls on Russian society to be tolerant on her public social media pages, is the daughter of one of the country’s main state propagandists. In her posts, the woman called for donations to the Nasiliu.net [“No To Violence,” a Russian nonprofit founded in 2015, which supports women who experience domestic violence – The Insider] and OVD-Info [an independent Russian human rights media project aimed at combating political persecution – The Insider] and criticized the arrests of protesters.
In one TikTok video in English in March 2022, Solovyova noted that “Russia is not Putin.” She also said that Russia had banned “calling war war” and had imposed military censorship.
“I want you to know, Russia is not Putin. And don't let hate win, because that's what they're trying to accomplish.”
On Twitter, Solovyova claimed that all of her activities “have always been, are and will always be anti-war,” with the post published on September 21, 2022 – the day Vladimir Putin announced the start of Russia’s “partial” mobilization.
The woman, described by Verstka as Solovyov's daughter, also plays in the musical group The BlueStocking, dances on Moscow's burlesque stages, and directs feminist plays. In April and May 2023, she staged “28 Days” – a production based on a play by playwright Olga Shilyaeva on the stigma of menstruation and domestic violence. Two screenings of the play are scheduled for July, and the Russian has already publicly expressed doubts that the performances could go ahead, as feminism in Russia could be equated with extremism.
I can honestly say that the fate of the play is unknown. It is almost impossible to predict whether feminism will be equated with extremism. But we will definitely perform it in May.
Screenshot of Ekaterina Solovyova's tweet
In 2018, Ekaterina staged a play about domestic violence in Moscow in support of the Nasiliu.net foundation (recognized as a “foreign agent” by Russia’s Ministry of Justice in 2020). According to the publication, Vladimir Solovyov attended the premiere of the play, and invited his daughter to talk about the production on the air of government-owned radio station Vesti.FM. Nasiliu.net founder Anna Rivina told Verstka that the performance led to the fund receiving 81,000 roubles in donations (close to $1500 in 2018).
Verstka also drew attention to the fact that in 2012, Solovyova reposted a message in support of Fyodor Bakhov, an accused protester in the Bolotnaya Square Case. In 2019, she expressed solidarity with the actor Pavel Ustinov, who was arrested at a protest, noting that “tomorrow, it could be one of us.”
According to the publication, the woman does not hide her kinship with Vladimir Solovyov. She has dedicated several posts to him on Instagram, and posted joint photos with him. A caption under one of the posts read: “Thank you for being my dad.”
Solovyova declined to comment on her relationship with her father and her creative work, telling Verstka that she was worried about the safety of the participants in her projects.
“The most important thing for me in this case is the safety of my colleagues, who already face injustice and narrow-mindedness all the time. I have nothing to hide, but talking about my father now means endangering not only myself and my family, but also my friends and colleagues.”
Ekaterina Solovyova did not answer when asked if her father would allow his daughter to be arrested. Vladimir Solovyov also read a message from Verstka’s editorial board asking if they had any conflicts over her daughter's anti-war stance, but left the query unanswered.