New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged girlfriend has been included in the European Union’s proposed sixth round of sanctions against the country over its invasion of Ukraine.
European diplomatic sources told CNN that former gymnast Alina Kabaeva, allegedly romantically linked with Putin, might be included in the draft proposal of the sanctions.
The EU has not officially signed off on the draft proposal yet.
Putin has denied a relationship with Kabaeva whose name was first linked to the Russian premier a decade ago when she was a gymnast.
In the end of March, citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine joined a petition online urging Switzerland to give up Alina Kabaeva, who was believed to be holed up in a local chalet with her three children.
Kabaeva, 38, also known as ‘Russia’s most flexible woman’, is a gymnast and former Olympic gold medallist. Media reports have indicated that she is Putin’s mistress and mother to his three children – a fact that has not been officially acknowledged.
Kabaeva has not so far been touched by the sanctions that have hit Russia and its oligarchs. Other than being close to Putin, the former gymnast is chairman of the National Media Group — a television and newspaper behemoth loyal to the Kremlin. It is reported she gets a salary of almost $10.5 million a year.
Kabaeva is fiercely private, but has occasionally been seen with Putin. Reports said the gymnast who won gold in the 2000 summer Olympics led a luxurious lifestyle, and travelled everywhere with gun-toting private guards.
Also read: ‘Unite Eva with Fuhrer’: Campaign urges the Swiss to give up Putin ‘lover’ Alina Kabaeva