Lvova-Belova was born into a Russian family in Penza, a city in the Russian SFSR of the erstwhile Soviet Union, on 25 October 1984. She graduated from the A. A. Arkhangelsky College of Culture and Arts as a conductor in 2002.[3]
In 2019, Lvova-Belova joined the United Russia party (the ID card was given to her on 23 November by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev). On 24 November, she was elected to the Presidium of the General Council of the United Russia, and she became the co-chair of the working group to support civil society. In September 2020, reelected governor of Penza OblastIvan Belozertsev appointed her to the Federation Council of Russia from Penza Oblast's executive branch.[6] After the 2021 snap election, she was reappointed by Oleg Melnichenko.
Lvova-Belova has publicly shown her support for the program of abducting Ukrainian children to Russia, being present at an event in Moscow where 14 Ukrainian children received their Russian identity papers in July 2022.[8] In September 2022, she reported that a group of children from Mariupol had at first shown their resistance by singing the Ukrainian national anthem, but had soon learned to "love Russia".[8] Ukrainian and British officials accused her of supervising the forcible deportation and adoption of children from Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[9][10] Russian programs to transfer Ukrainian children to Russia and re-educate them as Russians had begun in 2014.[11]
International sanctions and ICC arrest warrant
She was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June 2022, by the European Union in July 2022, by the United States in September 2022, and by Japan in January 2023.[12][13][14][15]
A warrant for Lvova-Belova's arrest was issued by the International Criminal Court on 17 March 2023, which alleges she is responsible for the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia during the invasion; a similar warrant was issued for Putin.[2][16]
Personal life
Lvova-Belova has been married to Pavel Kogelman, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church and formerly a programmer, since 2003.[17][4] They have five biological and eighteen adopted children.[18][19] The former were born in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2018.[4] In February 2023, she adopted a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol, which The Moscow Times said would likely spark outrage due to the concurrent deportation program.[19][2]
In 2024, she was reported to be in a romantic relationship with Orthodox media tycoon Konstantin Malofeev.[20] The two reportedly married at a ceremony in the elite village of Deauville in Moscow Oblast in September 2024.[21]
^"Семнадцать детей будущего министра" [Seventeen children of the future minister]. TASS (in Russian). 6 September 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
Italics and (*) indicate that a person was convicted by the ICC and that the conviction remains valid; a name in (parentheses) indicates that charges were dropped or a conviction was overturned; † indicates a person confirmed by the ICC as deceased before or during trial; (x) after a name indicates that the case was closed by the ICC because of a national-level trial of the accused
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