Dmitry Peskov

Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (Russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Песко́в, IPA: [pʲɪˈskof]; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat, translator and Turkologist. Since 2012, Peskov has been the Press Secretary for the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.[1]

In this Eastern Slavic name, the patronymic is Sergeyevich and the family name is Peskov.
Dmitry Peskov
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia — Presidential Press Secretary
Assumed office
22 May 2012
Preceded byNatalya Timakova
Personal details
Born
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov

(1967-10-17) 17 October 1967
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Spouse(s)
Anastasia Budennaya
​
​
(m. 1988; div. 1994)​

Yekaterina Solotsinskaya
​
​
(m. 1994; div. 2012)​

​
​
(m. 2015)​
Children5
Alma materMSU Institute of Asian and African Studies

Early life and education

Peskov was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1967. His father, Sergey, headed the Soviet diplomatic mission in Pakistan.

In 1989, Peskov graduated from the Institute of Asian and African Countries at the Moscow State University, specializing in History and Eastern studies. In the same year, Peskov joined the Soviet Foreign Ministry.

Career
Peskov with President Putin at a conference, 12 December 2012

In 1990, Peskov was appointed to the Soviet Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, as an administrative assistant. He subsequently filled the positions of attaché and then third secretary at the embassy. In 1994, he was assigned to work in the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow. After two years there, he was posted back to Ankara in 1996 with the diplomatic rank of second, and then first secretary at the Russian Embassy.[1]

In 2000, Peskov returned to Russia to work at the press service of the Russian President, serving in a number of positions, including a four-year term as First Deputy Press Secretary of the Russian President, from 2004 to 2008. Peskov has served as Putin's spokesperson since April 2000.

Peskov was named as Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov's Press Secretary on 25 April 2008,[2] putting him in place to lead Vladimir Putin's press operations when he moved to the job of Prime Minister under Dmitry Medvedev's presidency. In May 2012, when Putin again became President, Peskov succeeded Natalya Timakova as the presidential spokesperson.

Contact with Trump aide

In January 2016, Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, sent an e-mail to Dmitry Peskov asking for help with a business deal in Moscow. The Washington Post called this the "most direct outreach documented by a top Trump aide to a similarly senior member of Putin’s government."[3] After initial difficulties in addressing the email Peskov's office replied by email and telephone. Cohen denied this response when testifying to Congress but later admitted that he had lied, and the Moscow project had continued until at least June 2016.[4]

Personal life

In July 2015, Peskov became engaged to the Olympic Champion ice dancer Tatiana Navka, with whom he has a daughter.[5] They married on 1 August 2015, after Peskov finalized the divorce with his second wife. During the wedding, Peskov was photographed wearing an exclusive US$670,000 Richard Mille watch, greater than Peskov's declared income for all his years of service as a state employee. When this fact was discovered, this caused a media reaction, and Peskov replied that Navka had paid for the watch.[6] Russian anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny said on 17 August that Peskov vacationed recently with his new wife off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia on a 350,000-euro-per-week yacht called the Maltese Falcon. Navalny cited data from yacht-tracking websites and social-media posts as evidence partially corroborating his source's claims, though he presented no direct proof that Peskov had set foot on the vessel.[7]

Aside from Peskov's native Russian language, he also is fluent in English, Turkish and Arabic.

His daughter, Elizaveta Peskova, is an assistant to far-right Aymeric Chauprade, a French Member of the European Parliament.[8][9]

On 12 May 2020, Peskov was sent to the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.[10] He recovered and was discharged on 25 May.[11]

Footnotes
  1. Peskov, Dmitry Kremlin.ru
  2. "Putin begins forming prime ministerial team". Reuters. 25 April 2008.
  3. Rosalind S. Helderman; Carol D. Leonnig; Tom Hamburger (28 August 2017). "Top Trump Organization executive asked Putin aide for help on business deal". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 April 2019. Cohen’s email marks the most direct outreach documented by a top Trump aide to a similarly senior member of Putin’s government [...] he did not recall receiving a response from Peskov [...] The email, addressed to Peskov, appeared to have been sent to a general Kremlin press account.
  4. Mueller, Robert S. (April 18, 2019). The Mueller Report: The Report of the Special Counsel on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. Special Counsel's Office, U.S. Department of Justice. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9780359600281. Retrieved May 12, 2020. Cohen testified to Congress, and initially told the Office, that he did not recall receiving a response to this email inquiry and that he decided to terminate any further work on the Trump Moscow project as of January 2016. Cohen later admitted that these statements were false. In fact, Cohen had received (and recalled receiving) a response to his inquiry, and he continued to work on and update candidate Trump on the project through as late as June 2016.
  5. "Olympic Skating Champion to Marry Russian President Putin's Spokesman". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  6. Oliphant, Ronald (3 August 2015). "Vladimir Putin's spokesman in luxury watch scandal". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  7. "After Wristwatch Scandal, Putin's Spokesman Grilled Over Luxury Yacht". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  8. Taylor, Simon (25 February 2019). "Daughter of Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov working for far-Right French MEP in Brussels". The Telegraph.
  9. "Daughter of Putin's Spokesman Interns for Far-Right French Member of European Parliament: Report". The Daily Beast. 25 February 2019.
  10. "Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman tests positive for coronavirus". Reuters. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  11. "Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov back at work". Associated Press. Hong Kong Standard. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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