Who is Alina Kabaeva? Russian President Vladimir Putin's rumoured girlfriend and mother of 4

New Delhi, Mar 22: Even as countries around the world have been imposing sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, there is now a demand for expelling Russian President Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend from Switzerland.

A report on Daily Mirror claims that a petition has been filed on Change.org calling for the world community to expel Alina Kabaeva from Switzerland. It is alleged that she is hiding in the country with her four children.

The petition, which already has over 55,000 signatures, slams the country staying neutral in the ongoing Ukraine and Russia crisis. "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," it added.

So, who is Putin's rumoured secret girlfriend?

A former gymnastics champion Kabaeva has reportedly been Putin's secret girlfriend since 2006. She is more than 30 years younger than 69-year-old Putin.

Alina Maratovna Kabaeva is a Russian politician, media manager, retired individual rhythmic gymnast, and Honoured Master of Sports. She is one of the most decorated gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastic history, with 2 Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 21 European Championship medals.

From 2007 to 2014, Kabaeva was a State Duma Deputy from United Russia. In September 2013, Kabaeva became the chairwoman of the board of directors of the National Media Group.

Kabaeva was seen in the Japanese movie, Red Shadow, performing her gymnastic routine in 2001. A decade later, she appeared on the cover of Vogue Russia. She has tried her luck at singing career, but abandoned it, later.

There were rumours in the later half of 2000 that she was blessed with a daughter and the newspaper which reported it was shut down. The Russian President was then married to Lyudmila with whom he had two grown-up daughters.
They got divorced in 2014.

"I've always had a negative feeling about people poking their snotty noses and erotic fantasies into other people's lives," Putin had once responded to a question around the secret affair, The Sunday Times reported.

In March 2015, Kabaeva was reported to have given birth to a daughter at the VIP hospital of Saint Ann in Ticino, Switzerland. The first baby was born in 2009.

She was blessed with twin sons at the Kulakov maternity clinic in Moscow in 2019 although some reports claimed that the babies were born in Switzerland. Up until 2002, Kabaeva was a practising Muslim. In 2003, it was reported that she had converted to Christianity.

"While Putin carries out his assault on Ukraine, attacking innocent citizens and causing a refugee crisis, his family is holed up in a very private and very secure chalet somewhere in Switzerland - for now, at least," a source told Page Six.

However, the secret lover of Putin out of media glare for over four years now.