Karin Kneissl, the former Austrian foreign minister who infamously danced with Vladimir Putin at her 2018 wedding, has settled in the small Russian village of Petrushovo, Ryazan Oblast.
According to Russian outlet Vid Sboku, Kneissl was spotted at a local festival and confirmed she was renting a home in Petrushovo. “I paid for another month, and then we’ll see. I don’t know anything about my future,” Kneissl remarked.
Kneissl claims she was forced to leave Austria in 2020 due to threats and work restrictions. After living in France and Lebanon, she eventually arrived in Russia, though the exact timeline is unclear.
In Petrushovo, Kneissl says she is writing books and teaching. She says she was invited to St. Petersburg State University to teach the “oil and gas market” since “this is the topic which I dealt with for 30 years.”
On holiday in Petrushovo, Kneissl sat with residents and other guests on a bench under the open sky. She watched performances, and filmed something on her phone. According to Vid Sboku, Student Aleksey, who graduated from the first course of the Faculty of Arts and came to Petrushovo for the holidays, was her translator. She told Kneissl in English about what was happening on the stage.
Kneissl reportedly praised a song, “Forward, Russia,” performed by boy Kostya at the holiday. The video shows how, after the event, she approached the boy, praised him, and shook his hand.
