The message itself would not be worth reporting: Alina Kabaeva, a Russian gymnast living in Switzerland, is pregnant again. Only: Kabaeva is not just an athlete, but – according to rumors – has also been the woman at Vladimir Putin’s side for years.
The Kremlin boss is said to already have two children with the 38-year-old; he never confirmed that, of course. The two have not been seen together for a long time, so photos of them are old.
Putin highly displeased
The rumor that Kabaeva is pregnant again has a very active Telegram channel called General SVR into the world, who has repeatedly spread speculation about the state of health of the Russian President. Specifically, it says that according to eyewitnesses, on Sunday – the day before the Victory Day Parade on May 9 – Putin appeared particularly depressed and somewhat distant. The reason is the recent pregnancy of his partner and mother of his children. “The President should live and rejoice, but no…” writes General SVR. Die British Sun and the German one Bild write, without naming a source, that Putin reacted angrily because he did not want other news – such as a new child together – to overshadow the parade in Moscow.
Behind the Telegram channel General SVR is suspected to be the political scientist Valery Soloviev, who is said to have the best contacts in the Kremlin, but who was never able to substantiate his claims about Putin’s alleged illnesses – he is said to have Parkinson’s or cancer, says Soloviev.
Up to four children?
Kabaeva is said to have been in a relationship with Putin since 2008. At that time, the head of the Kremlin was still married, he only officially separated from his wife Ludmila in 2018. From the connection with “Russia’s most flexible gymnasts”, as Kabaeva is called because of their acrobatics, there are said to be two seven-year-old twin girls and apparently also one or two sons all were born in Switzerland and should therefore also have Swiss passports.