Russian President Vladimir Putin is notorious for wanting to keep his family life private. He has even gone as far as to never publicly acknowledge some of the children he is believed to have outside of his marriage to his ex-wife.
The president’s relationships with his children and partners have always been a topic the Russian press knew too well to avoid.
Putin once famously said: “I have a private life in which I do not permit interference.
READ MORE: What would happen if a nuclear bomb hit Ireland? Vladimir Putin set to hold nuclear evacuation drill
“It must be respected.”
Adding “those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives”.
However, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin’s personal life has become a matter of public interest.
The Russian leader had planned to take Ukraine within a matter of days, but these plans have not materialised, leading Putin’s family to come under severe pressure, according to some sources.
Sources close to the Kremlin have leaked information about Putin’s family, suggesting that the war has affected their relationships.
The family is believed to be stowed away in a hidden underground city in Siberia designed to withstand nuclear warfare.
Russian Professor Valery Solovey, a former head of the Public Relations Department at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said Putin had sent his gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva and the suspected four children she shares with the president along with the rest of his family to the luxury hi-tech bunker in the Altai Mountains.
She said in a video released at the beginning of the month: “At the weekend, President Putin’s family was evacuated to a special bunker prepared in case of nuclear war.
“This bunker is located in the [mountainous] Altai Republic.
“In fact, it is not a bunker, but a whole underground city, equipped with the latest science and technology.”
Prof Solovey said the move came as a result of Putin’s failings to conquer Ukraine, forcing him to change strategy.
To make matters worse, news broke that Putin’s eldest daughter’s marriage had collapsed.
Maria Vorontsova, who is a respected paediatric endocrinologist and an expert in genetic diseases in children, and her Dutch husband Jorrit Faassen are said to have split.
Maria is believed to have come under pressure after her hopes to open a medical centre were dashed due to the war.
Exiled Russian investigative journalist Sergey Kanev said that Putin “did a rotten job for his elder daughter” and her plans for the medical centre near St Petersburg when he triggered massive Western sanctions by going to war with Ukraine.
“She has a big share in the mega-project for the construction of a super modern medical centre near St Petersburg,” he said.
“The plans were to attract patients from Europe and rich sheiks from the Persian Gulf countries.
“And now, after the attack on Ukraine, what kind of Europeans and sheiks will come?”
READ MORE: More than half of Ukraine's children have fled homes since start of Russia war
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter.