DYACHENKO, TATYANA BORISOVNA

(1960– )

The daughter of the late Russian presidentBoris Yeltsin, Tatyana Dyachenko rose to prominence during the1996 presidential electioncampaign. With a background in computer science and little experience inpolitics, she acted as an informal personal advisor to Yeltsin and coordinated key aspects of hismediastrategy. She also mitigated his growing neo-authoritarian tendencies and counterbalanced his advisors from the more aggressive “Party of War,” which supported banning theCommunist Party of the Russian Federation, canceling the elections, and dissolving parliament. As a principal member of “the Family,” a group of close advisors to the president, she also acted as a critical go-between for certainoligarchs, such asBoris Berezovsky. While she was briefly retained as an advisor toVladimir Putin, she was sacked in 2000 when her name was linked tocorruptioncharges surrounding Swiss construction contracts. In 2001, she married Valentin Yumashev, father-in-law of the oligarchOleg Deripaska.