The Kurchatov Institute, run by Vladimir Putin's close friend Mikhail Kovalchuk, has created a bank of blood samples from long-lived primates to search for ways to extend human lifespan.
The institute teamed up with the Petrovsky Russian Research Center of Surgery to collect the samples. Konstantin Kotenko, the surgery center's director, said at the Kurchatov Genomic Forum on Tuesday that scientists will use the bank to study the mechanisms of aging. Speaking at the same event, Kovalchuk said research on monkeys would lay the groundwork "for creating a regulatory system for extending [human lifespan]."
The institute's breeding facilities house more than 7,000 monkeys of 22 species. Scientists are examining primates aged 18 to over 30, studying the condition of their blood vessels, brains, and other organs.
Mikhail Kovalchuk, like his brother, billionaire Yuri Kovalchuk, belongs to Putin's inner circle and is considered his informal adviser on science. In 2024, Meduza and Sistema reported that Mikhail Kovalchuk may have been one of the main forces behind a state anti-aging project. A source close to the Kremlin attributed the project's creation to "an obsession amplified by lobbying."
Putin, who is 74, shares Kovalchuk's interest in extending life. In September 2025, during Putin's visit to China, a broadcast accidentally picked up his conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two discussed the possibility of living to 150, and Putin said biotechnology makes it possible to "continually transplant" organs and "even achieve immortality."
The Kremlin has allocated funds for longevity research. The 2027-2029 budget includes almost 18 billion rubles for the "New Health Protection Technologies" project, which aims to develop methods for extending healthy life. Next year, 625.4 million rubles is earmarked for preventive medicine and longevity technologies, 288.5 million rubles for bioprinting tissues and organs, and 137.4 million rubles for studying the causes of aging.
