New Delhi: Citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have joined a petition online urging Switzerland to give up Vladimir Putin’s reported lover Alina Kabaeva, who is 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.
The condemnatory petition on change.org was headlined: “Despite the current war, Switzerland continues to host an accomplice of Putin’s regime. It’s time Switzerland take action and reunite Alina ‘Eva Braun’ Kabaeva with her ‘Fuhrer’.”
The petition reads: “The public has just learned that the Russian political and media figure, and former athlete, Alina Kabaeva, is hiding the consequences of the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation in YOUR country. She is the favourite wife of a delusional dictator and war criminal who has been treacherously attacking Ukraine over the past weeks.”
The post which has gathered nearly 60,000 signatures says, “Alina Kabaeva is not only a woman who stained herself with an association with the Russian dictator, but also a criminal against humanity.”
The petitioners condemned Switzerland for violating its neutral stand by ‘hosting’ Kabaeva. They said: “For the first time in modern history, your country has violated its neutrality, which it did not even do vis-à-vis Nazi Germany in the 20th century, and joined the sanctions against Putin and his surroundings. And now you are allowing his favourite mistress and her children to hide within the borders of your state!”
Kabaeva is yet to be touched by the cascading 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.
The signatories to the petition have accused Kabaeva of “obediently approving any constitutional initiative of President Putin”. The hard-hitting petition read: “Alina Kabaeva, being a member of the State Duma, obediently approved any unconstitutional initiative of President Putin, which later became almost genocidal against the internal population of Russia.”
They urged the Swiss to “investigate very carefully the legal basis on which she is present in your country”, adding, “It’s time you reunite Eva Braun with her Führer!”
Putin divorced his wife Lyudmila, the mother of their two adult daughters, in 2013, and has been very disapproving of attempts to look into his private life.
Also read: Putin vows to cleanse country of ‘scum and traitors’, accuses West of trying to destroy Russia
Read the full petition here:
We, the citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, which is currently undergoing immense suffering, are uniting to appeal to the Swiss authorities. The public has just learned that the Russian political and media figure, and former athlete, Alina Kabaeva, is hiding the consequences of the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation in YOUR country. She is the favourite wife of a delusional dictator and war criminal who has been treacherously attacking Ukraine over the past weeks. As she is supportive of social activities in Russia, she has been attempting to get Russian citizens accustomed to the reality of sanctions after 2014, and personally proclaimed: “The worse it gets, the better for us!” So why now, given the volume of sanctions placed on Russia, are you continuing to host her and her family, whilst Putin is destroying the lives of millions.
For the first time in modern history, your country has violated its neutrality, which it did not even do vis-à-vis Nazi Germany in the 20th century, and joined the sanctions against Putin and his surroundings. And now you are allowing his favourite mistress and her children to hide within the borders of your state! We want to remind you that Alina Kabaeva is not only a woman who stained herself with an association with the Russian dictator, but also a criminal against humanity. In particular, she was among the initiators of the draft law, which in Russia was called the “law of scoundrels” or “the law of Dima Yakovlev”. This shameful move deprived thousands of Russian orphans of the possibility of being adopted abroad. Consequently, many applications already open at the time for the adoption of seriously ill children were cancelled and applicants for qualified medical care simply died. Alina Kabaeva, being a member of the State Duma, obediently approved any unconstitutional initiative of President Putin, which later became almost genocidal against the internal population of Russia.
We ask you to investigate very carefully the legal basis on which she is present in your country. Please consider it especially against the backdrop of sanctions imposed on her as a top executive of Russian propaganda media. Please decide whether the residence of this individual in your country is warranted. We also ask you to check the “cleanliness” of the funds used for the purchase of real estate in Switzerland, of which this person uses. We will seek justice in any way possible, and if the fact of corruption of individual political officials of Switzerland is found out, which has allowed Alina Kabaeva to obtain citizenship bypassing all procedures, then we will ensure that this information isn’t kept a secret.
At times like this, filled with tremendous uncertainty, you must be severe with your actions and in regards to the beneficiaries of Putin’s regime! It’s time you reunite Eva Braun with her Führer!
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