How a Russian minister’s stepdaughter lives the high life in a £4 million Kensington flat

The stepdaughter of Russia’s foreign minister has been living in opulence in a £4 million Kensington flat.

After it was revealed on Thursday that Polina Kovaleva, 26, is based at the sumptuous west London pad, campaigners are calling for her to be sanctioned.

Russian activists identified Kovaleva as the stepdaughter of Sergey Lavrov, a key figure in Ukraine’s invasion.

Some see him as Vladamir Putin’s doomsday mouthpiece, following his recent remarks that World War III would be “nuclear and destructive,” posing a threat to NATO and the West.

According to The Times, Lavrov is the unofficial husband of Kovaleva’s mother, Svetlana Polyakova.

The couple is said to have been dating since the early 2000s.

According to Land Registry records, Kovaleva purchased her Kensington apartment for £4.4 million with no mortgage in 2016 when she was 21 years old.

The residence is part of an award-winning development that includes a swimming pool, gym, spa, cinema, golf simulator, games room, and views of Kensington and Holland Park.

Kovaleva currently lives in the apartment with a man who is thought to be her partner and owns a 10% stake in the investment firm she runs.

Meanwhile, her mother, Polyakova, owns a £5 million apartment in Moscow and, according to FBK, accompanies Lavrov on all of his foreign trips.

Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned opposition leader, runs the anti-corruption foundation.

Kovaleva has lived in the United Kingdom before, having attended a private boarding school in Bristol before graduating with honours from Loughborough University with a first-class degree in economics and politics.

She then moved to London to pursue her master’s degree in economics and business strategy at Imperial College London.

Her impressive education was followed by a position working with mergers and acquisitions at Russian energy giant Gazprom, followed by a position at mining company Glencore.

She called for the stepdaughter and her family to be sanctioned on Thursday.

“Polina’s biological father isn’t a millionaire. “She is not married to an oligarch,” she explained.

“However, at the age of 21, she purchased this apartment on Kensington High Street in London for £4.4 million.”

Pevchikh stated that Kovaleva’s only source of income is her mother, who is unemployed and also happens to be Lavrov’s informal wife.

She referred to it as a “textbook example” of unexplained wealth and stated that the property could be legally seized.

“So, why does his stepdaughter live in the heart of London?” Why doesn’t she relocate to Crimea or Donbas?”

It is unknown whether Kovaleva is currently in London.

Kovaleva’s social media presence vanished on February 24, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, with her accounts being deleted.