VLADIMIR Putin's alleged lover was reportedly sent to Siberia after sanctions made it almost impossible to travel to the West.
Former Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Alina Kabaeva, 39, is rumoured to have two children with the Russian president.
Putin's supposed mistress is rarely seen in public and is believed to live in Switzerland in a mansion overlooking Lake Geneva bought for her and her children by the tyrant.
But since Russia's brutal and bloody invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Western sanctions on those close to the Kremlin have made it harder and harder for Kabaeva to travel to the West.
She is also suspected of plotting a political career of her own amid the chaotic scenes behind Putin's throne in Moscow.
The two are rumoured to have been dating since 2008 when the Russian leader was still married to his first wife, Lyudmila Putina.
READ MORE ON VLADIMIR PUTIN
Putin faces rebellion as Wagner mercenaries threaten to quit Russia’s army
Brave Zelensky’s vow to ‘shoot to kill’ against Putin’s forces
Three years earlier, he was pictured giving Kabaeva a prominent award at the Kremlin.
Kabaeva is known to have given birth in Switzerland in 2015 and in Moscow in 2019.
Putin has never admitted to any relationship with Kabaeva, and state media bans any mention of links between the two.
Kabaeva has been pictured in the Siberian city of Omsk after flying there under high security.
Most read in The Sun
Souness fights back tears as he announces emotional retirement on Sky Sports
Sky Sports' Martin Tyler slammed for 'racist' comment about Spurs star Son
Olly Murs breaks down on stage over Caroline Flack 'regret'
Fulham's Pereira stretchered off with suspected broken leg in worrying scenes
She was seen attending the Evgeniya Cup for child athletes, some 2,000 miles from the palaces she is thought to share with Putin.
One of the dachas is hidden away in the forests of Valdai, northern Russia, while the other overlooks the Black Sea at Gelendzhik, less than 100 miles from the border with Ukraine, where Russian soldiers are committing countless atrocities.
The gymnastics tournament featured child athletes from parts of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia, as well as from pro-Putin states such as Belarus and Cuba.
It isn't clear how long Kabaeva will be in Siberia, but it comes as rumours swirl that she is angling for a top political job.
She is believed to be plotting to succeed as speaker of the country's senate for the Federation Council, a powerful role in Russia's regime.
The post is currently held by 74-year-old Valentina Matviyenko, Putin's most senior female official who is expected to be retiring soon.
Kabaeva and Matviyenko were pictured together last month at a gymnastics centre owned by the former athlete in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, where Putin's summer palace is located.
A former dissident Russian MP, Maria Maksakova, has claimed that Kabaeva is looking to establish herself in a powerful role in the event that Putin becomes too sick to rule or is forced from office.
She told the Ukrainian outlet Fakty Ukraine: "About the fate of Kabaeva, I think she wants to get the role of Valentina Matviyenko, even if it seems to be quite hard."
Maria added that Kabaeva "understands future threats" as well as the risk to her and her children if Putin steps down.
She went on: "[Kabaeva] also realises her sports career and medals will not save her from an unsightly possible fate."
It comes after an ex-CIA analyst claimed Putin's death could trigger the breakup of Russia into a series of nuclear-armed mini-states run by brutal warlords.
Read More on The Sun
Sainsbury’s accused of ‘sexualising children’ by selling nude crop top for kids
I’m a perfume pro – the scents I’ll never buy including a popular Tom Ford one
Paul Goble told The Sun Online: "People are now much more open to the possibility that the Russian Federation might not be able to remain in one piece."
He predicted that the world is facing "Yugoslavia with nukes" in reference to the bloody break-up of the former Balkan state.
Source: Read Full Article
