The aging Russian dictator is secretly searching for solutions to secure his own immortality while oligarchs exploit his fear of death.

The Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, announced in early 2024 that Russia needs a new national health project, with “combating aging and extending the lifespan of citizens” representing one of its key elements.

Speaking at a future technologies forum in Moscow last winter, he tasked the scientific community to urgently build a biotech industry by 2025; until 2030 the project should save 175,000 lives, estimated the dictator whose country has lost about 120,000 lives in the Ukraine war over the past two and a half years.

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The Russian research institutes were tasked to table proposals regarding the following areas, as per the documents obtained by Meduza:

• Pharmacological products that slow down aging;
• Neurotechnologies to prevent or mitigate cognitive and sensory impairment;
• Immune system correction methods; and
• Bioprinting technologies.

The government defends the project with failing demographic trends that require new approaches to address the challenges in public health. The cost of Russia’s new life extending project, which has unclear launch dates, remains unknown. And so is the ultimate goal – it doesn’t say whether it’s about the average life expectancy of the Russian population or about unorthodox methods to help certain individuals live longer.

Mikhail Kovalchuk sold first the idea of immortality to Vladimir Putin.

Image: Kremlin.ru

Two independent outlets – Meduza and Sistema – concluded recently in a joint investigation that the project is actually designed to explore the pharma and biotech innovations that could prolong Putin’s life as much as possible – at the expense of Russian taxpayers, of course.

The scientists and doctors interviewed for this report described the project as “a cynical attempt of the political elite” to extend their own lives while waging a war that takes the lives of ordinary people.

According to the investigative report, Vladimir Putin – a skeptic of science himself – has been infected with the idea of human immortality by the brothers Mikhail Kovalchuk and Yuri Kovalchuk, businessmen and biotech investors who are close friends with the Kremlin ruler.

Yuri Kovalchuk is known as one of the largest recipients of public funding in Russian science. Image: Meduza

Mikhail Kovalchuk, a physicist by training, is the head of the Kurchatov Research Institute, and Yuri Kovalchuk, a banker, is in charge with the federal genetics program. 

The Kovalchuks, believed to be the most influential individuals in Russia after the dictator, have direct benefits from their lobby: both are the largest beneficiaries of public funding in this project, the report suggests.

Putin’s elder daughter, endocrinologist Maria Vorontsova, is part of the longevity project and a beneficiary of public funding for other similar projects, Khomeko, a private clinic.

Maria Vorontsiva, Putin's elder daughter, received public funding for research but published none. Image: RIA

Meduza has searched for research papers and studies highlighting the work of the entities affiliated with the Kovalchuks or Vorontsova and found nothing. Given that science in Russia has always been underfunded and the medical sector performs miserably, the new national health project might be well one of the latest know-hows of Russian oligarchs to move public money into private pockets by exploiting Putin’s fear of death.

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Longevity and immortality are hot topics in scientific circles and probably every self-respecting billionaire has hired someone to work on a drug or technology that undoes aging. Putin, who turns 72 on 7 October, is believed to be the wealthiest man on Earth de facto, is not an exception. Unlike others, however, he has all the resources of a huge country at his little finger.

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