Alina Kabaeva

She made two rare public appearances this weekend and has so far managed to avoid sanctions from the West, but for how long? Amy Francombe reports on the ...

In 2014 Kabaeva was appointed by the Kremlin to run the state-owned National Media Group, with a reported salary of $10 million a year, despite having no previous media or business expertise. Sources in Lugano, Switzerland had previously told Bulgarian tabloid site 24 Chasa that it was known Kabaeva lived there and that everyone who knew her (and her children) had sworn to keep their location secret. She was also sporting a “new appearance”, with many wondering if she and Putin shared the same plastic surgeon. “This celebration is not just for the whole country, this is a holiday for every family. In 2001, Alina Kabaeva was convicted of using furosemide, a diuretic sometimes used by athletes to shed weight quickly or to mask other forbidden drugs. Unlike Putin’s two adult daughters, Maria and Katerina, Kabaeva has so far escaped Western sanctioning. In July 2013, Kabaeva claimed that she did not have any children. Kabaeva was also seen praising Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine during her lavish eponymous “Alina Festival” at the VTB Arena in Moscow. Wearing a patriotic St George’s ribbon on her chest, Kabaeva delivered a rousing speech appearing to link victory over Nazism in the Second World War to today’s events in Ukraine. “This theme, you see, this story, doesn’t only go into the past. It’s why Putin’s nemesis Navalny has demanded from his prison cell that Kavaeva face sanctions. She was also ordered to return the medals she won at the rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Madrid in October 2001, where Kabaeva was the overall world champion. Despite claims she was hiding out in a Swiss chalet or a Siberian nuclear bunker, photos of Kabaeva at a junior rhythmic gymnastics rehearsal in Moscow unexpectedly surfaced earlier this week. “Something has really changed in Kabaeva’s face...

Following the invasion of Ukraine, US officials have so far excluded Vladimir Putin's reputed long-term mistress, ex-Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, ...

“I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. The publication eventually went out of business. While Kabaeva is suspected of assisting Putin in concealing his fortune overseas, little information about her alleged acts is publicly available. Her gymnastics career was not without its share of controversy. She was once dubbed “Russia’s most flexible woman” for her contortionist skills during her performances. Following the invasion of Ukraine, US officials have so far excluded Vladimir Putin’s reputed long-term mistress, ex-Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, from successive rounds of penalties, a decision purportedly made out of fear of derailing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire.

The U.S. effort to sanction Vladimir Putin increasingly includes targeting his family -- but critics say it's not aggressive enough.

After her 2013 marriage to Kirill Shamalov, the son of one of Putin’s best friends from his St. Petersburg dacha association, the couple was said to be worth at least $2 billion – and Shamalov mysteriously became Russia’s youngest billionaire through a series of lucrative business deals with Putin associates. She vanished from public view in 2018 after news reports that she was the alleged mother of as many as five of Putin’s children – a son Dmitry born in 2008, a daughter in 2012, another child in 2015 and then twin boys. His anti-corruption foundation also says Kabaeva officially received a salary of 785 million rubles – about $10.7 million a year in 2019 – from Putin banker Yury Kovalchuk as a board director of his national media company. A medal-winning former Russian Olympic gymnast before going into politics, Kabaeva reportedly engaged in at least a decade-long affair with Putin beginning in 2008 and has become extremely wealthy. Putin’s elder daughter, Vorontsova, 36, is a medical and genetic researcher and expert on dwarfism. A former competitive acrobatic dancer turned tech executive, Tikhonova, 35, now oversees a $1 billion government-funded science center affiliated with Moscow State University, according to U.S. and European officials. She reappeared this week at an event named after her in Moscow but has declined to discuss anything about her personal life and finances. No one is safe from our sanctions." ... There's more we will likely do." They also train a spotlight on what U.S. officials say is a decades-long campaign by Putin to stash money and riches in the names of family and friends, often through a sophisticated network of offshore accounts anonymous shell companies. Putina reportedly remarried and moved into a $4 million-plus villa in the South of France, and has other significant assets linked to Putin and their two adult daughters. - Sanctions put a spotlight on what U.S. officials say is a decades-long campaign to stash riches in the names of family and friends.

Appearing in public for the first time since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Alina Kabaeva was spotted leading a patriotic-themed gymnastics ...

Every family has a war story. “This celebration is not just for the whole country, this is a holiday for every family,” Kabaeva said. The publication also said that Kabaeva is “one of the most mysterious and secretive women” in Russia, managing to stay out of the public’s eye for long periods of time. Since the group is likely owned by Putin, paying Kabaeva a whopping £8 million a year instead of the average £5 600, there are calls to sanction her and treat her as a “war criminal”. Her words resonate with Putin’s outlandish claim – denounced in the West – that his modern-day war is against “Nazis” who dominate Ukraine, just as World War Two, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, was to defeat Hitler’s Nazis. The event included some of the Soviet Union’s most patriotic songs in a celebration of the country’s victory over the Nazis — but also the ‘Z’ symbol likened by critics to a Russian swastika invented for the war in Ukraine.

Alina Kabaeva is considered shrouded in mystery. Possible sanctions against the Russian bring her back into the headlines. Who is the Olympic champion and ...

From then on, the “most agile Russian in the world” had an impressive political career for an athlete who was still involved in a doping scandal in 2001. At the time, Vladimir Putin said, when asked about his rumored affair with the ex-Olympian: “I’ve always hated them who break into the private affairs of others with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies.” From 2007 to 2014 she was a deputy of the Russian State Duma for Putin’s United Russia party. But it is not the only circumstance that has brought Alina Kabaeva to the attention of the world public. An instruction “from above” was confirmed by independent editorial offices in the country at the time. In 2008, the Moscow newspaper “Moskowski Korrespondent” published the news. Accordingly, she is said to have used her contacts with the 69-year-old to enrich herself and her family. So now suddenly her participation in the event in the Russian VTB Arena – her first public appearance since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Kabaeva’s mother is also said to have been given a luxury apartment in Moscow. Pictures of her rehearsing for her charity event “Alina Festival” in Moscow made the rounds this past weekend. But the President of Russia has been single for nine years now. His divorce from Lyudmila, with whom Putin had been married for over 30 years and has two daughters, had not yet been officially finalized at the time.

Former United States intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler believes that sanctioning Alina Kabaeva, Putins rumored girlfriend, may impact the Russian ...

This is because Putin has no intentions of stopping the war, and to save Ukraine from further destruction, specific eccentric measures have to be taken. This is because Putin has no intentions of stopping the war, and to save Ukraine from further destruction, specific eccentric measures have to be taken. However, Koffler feels that it is necessary to take this step to try and control the situation. This will also include the spread among all his other family members. However, Koffler feels that it is necessary to take this step to try and control the situation. This will also include the spread among all his other family members.

The US has held back on sanctioning Alina Kabaeva, the 38-year-old rumoured girlfriend of the Russian president, over fears that it would be seen as a ...

Kabaeva has backed the war and recently resurfaced to lead a patriotic festival hailing the heroism of Russia’s armed forces. However, she is a potential target of upcoming sanctions, according to media reports. “She is too much of a propagandist.” Despite being the closest to Putin, the “First Lady in the shadows”, has not been slapped with sanctions. Like his daughters, Kabaeva is suspected to have helped Putin hide his wealth outside the country. The United States has gone all out in sanctioning Russia and those close to President Vladimir Putin. Even his daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, have not been spared.

Alina Kabaeva, the alleged mistress of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom she's believed to have at least three children, is a potential target for ...

Georgy Alburov, an associate of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has been among those calling for Kabaeva to be immediately sanctioned, arguing she is "the big propaganda boss" and "her relatives get apartments and houses bought with money stolen from Russians." He adds that "if after all the war crimes in Ukraine, foreign governments are still afraid to make Putin angry, then he really does have the right to continue wiping his feet all over the world." White House press secretary Jen Psaki seemed to deny that Monday. "No one is safe from our sanctions" and "there's more we will likely do," she said, per the Post, echoing comments made to the Journal by anonymous officials. The former Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics who was once named "Russia's most flexible woman" was first linked to Putin in 2008, five years before he confirmed his divorce from his then-wife of 30 years, per Newsweek. Kabaeva, who went on to serve as a lawmaker with Putin's United Russia party before becoming chair of the board of directors of the National Media Group, has never confirmed the relationship, nor has Putin. Nonetheless, she's widely considered Russia's "secret first lady," per CBS News. However, the Journal reported that US officials held off on sanctioning the 38-year-old out of fear that "so personal a blow to Mr. Putin ... could further escalate tensions between Russia and the US."

Alina Kabaeva is a Russian politician, a manager of Russian media, a former gymnast, a master of sports, and awarded sportswoman.

She goes to a restaurant she is not alone. She goes to a coffee shop, she is not alone. The neutrality is the trademark of Switzerland. The country is subsequently staying neutral, regardless of the situation. A petition for expelling her and sending her back to Russia. A petition symbolically called “It’s time you reunite Eva Braun with the Fuhrer”. During her hideout in Switzerland throughout the past months she was proposed to by the Russian President Putin. And seemingly, she said yes. It was said that the young and beautiful Alina mesmerized Putin and got to be the first lady of Russia. However, she did not become what she expected. The rumors do not stop only at the fact that she is Putin’s mistress. Alina is fearing that she might be a target for kidnapping. This was enough to start the rumors windmill and start grinding the stories. On a professional plan, she has been rewarded many times as the best-decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. Alina Kabaeva is reportedly being labeled as a long-time mistress of the actual Russian President Vladimir Putin. Alina Kabaeva is a Russian politician, a manager of Russian media, a former gymnast, a master of sports, and awarded sportswoman.

“No one is safe from our sanctions. There's more we will likely do,” she said. <p>Russian President Vladimir Putin giving flowers to Alina Kabaeva in 2001 ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice. The Journal suggested the Biden administration was reluctant to anger Mr Putin by sanctioning the 38-year-old Russian gymnast and Olympic gold medalist.