A gymnast rumoured to be Vladimir Putin’s lover has cut contact with friends and ‘vanished after giving birth to twins last year’ – but regularly carries out touching gestures for a former team-mate, a pal has revealed.
Alina Kabaeva, a famous 37-year-old Olympic gold medallist, has not been seen in public since 2018 when she was said to be two months pregnant with children thought to be fathered by Putin.
It was reported that Kabaeva gave birth to twin boys by Caesarean section in April last year at a Moscow clinic but neither she nor Putin have confirmed this.
Despite her apparent disappearance from the public eye, she has kept up the touching habit of leaving flowers at the grave of the mother of a former teammate, a pal has claimed.
Alina Kabaeva, a 37-year-old Olympic gold medallist who is the rumoured lover of Vladimir Putin, has not been seen in public since 2018 (pictured together in 2004)
During her heyday in the 2000s, Kabaeva was part of an extremely successful trio of Russian gymnasts, along with Lyasan Utiasheva and Irina Chashchina.
The three friends won multiple medals but are no longer in close contact as Kabaeva and Chashchina prefer to live quietly, Utiasheva told Infox.ru this week.
Kabaeva’s former team mate says that every time she visits her mother’s grave there are flowers with a card saying: ‘With love from Alina’.
Utiasheva said she knows for certain the flowers are from Kabaeva because she doesn’t know anyone else named Alina.
While the pair now see each other only very rarely, Utiasheva said she knows she could call Kabaeva if she ever needed to and doesn’t begrudge her decision to shy away from contact.
‘If a person decides to lead a life that is closed from the eyes of society, this choice must be respected,’ Utiasheva said.
Fellow former gymnast and friend of Kabaeva, Lyasan Utiasheva, is seen modelling as part of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Russia. Utiasheva says that her and Kabaeva are ‘extremely rarely’ in contact but that Putin’s rumoured girlfriend still leaves flowers at the grave of Utiasheva’s mother
Lyasan Utiasheva was part of a decorated trio of Russian rhythmic gymnasts – along with Alina Kabaeva and Irina Chashchina – who enjoyed huge success in the 2000s. She is seen performing here at a ‘Legends of Sport’ show
Kabaeva is one of the most decorated athletes in rhythmic gymnastic history, with two Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 25 European Championship medals.
After retiring from the sport, Kabaeva turned to politics, and became an MP in Putin’s United Russia party.
She also once posed semi-naked in a magazine, has appeared in a film and attempted a singing career.
Kabaeva now serves as boss of National Media Group, which won an exclusive contract to run Netflix’s operations in Russia.
Kabaeva is one of the most decorated gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastic history, with 2 Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 25 European Championship medals
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Russian gymnasts Alina Kabayeva (centre) and Svetlana Khorkina ahead of the Olympics in 2004
The rumoured romance between the athlete and the Russian President was first rumoured in 2008 – when Putin was still married to his ex-wife Lyudmila Shkrebneva.
Kabaeva was engaged to politician David Museliani in 2004 but they split a year later.
The Moskovsky Korrespondent reported in 2008 that Kabaeva and Putin were engaged, but the story was denied and the newspaper was shut down.
The athlete has been pictured several times wearing what appears to be a wedding ring.
Kabaeva was rumoured to have had her first child in 2015, with Putin alleged to be the father.
This has also been denied.
Romance between the athlete and the Russian President was first rumoured in 2008 and it is believed she was pregnant by the ruler while attending this event in 2015
Alina Kabaeva during qualification of 2017 World Championships for gymnastics in Pesaro, Italy (left and right)
Last year, when rumours spread about her giving birth to twins, the entire VIP fourth floor at the Kulakov Research Centre for Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Perinatology was cleared to accommodate the former gymnast and MP, say reports.
One major newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets carried the story on its website only to suddenly delete it and wipe all mentions of the claims, including from the internet cache.
Putin is notoriously guarded about his private life.
He previously married Lyudmila Shkrebneva in 1983 and they have two daughters together, Mariya Putina and Yekaterina Putina.
The glamorous athlete has appeared on the cover of Russian Vogue – pictured here at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg in 2008
There was frequent speculation the couple had divorced before they finally confirmed their split in 2013.
Putin has acknowledged in several interviews that he is now a grandfather but refuses to state the number of grandchildren he has due to security reasons.
In a series of interviews with the state-owned news service TASS, Putin said he does not want to emulate some fellow world leaders whose families are part of their image and their brand, Infox.ru reported.
Putin told the interviewer that people vote for him, not for his family and brushed off some questions about his private life, telling the reporter: ‘You do not live my life and do not understand what the security issues are’.