She’s an Olympic-winning gymnast - once called “Russia’s most flexible woman” - and a former pro-Kremlin member of parliament between 2007-2014. But, Alina Kabaeva, 38, is best known as Vladimir Putin’s alleged secret mistress.
Despite claims she was hiding out in a Swiss chalet or a Siberian nuclear bunker, photos of Kabaeva at a junior rhythmic gymnastics rehearsal in Moscow unexpectedly surfaced earlier this week. In the pictures – shared by trainer Ekaterina Sirotina despite a reported ban on images from inside the rehearsal – she was seen wearing a wedding ring, sparking rumours that she married the Russian president while in hiding. She was also sporting a “new appearance”, with many wondering if she and Putin shared the same plastic surgeon.
