Vladimir Putin’s alleged mistress wore a £1,915 from a British-based designer as she led a patriotic-themed gymnastics ballet in which she linked the defeat of Hitler’s Nazis to the Russian fight against Ukraine.
Olympic gold-medal winning Alina Kabaeva was filmed at a performance backed by a uniformed military choir.
The 38-year-old reappeared in Moscow last week after rumours that she was hiding in a Swiss chalet, or a Siberian nuclear bunker, following the start of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The event included some of the Soviet Union’s most patriotic songs in a celebration of the country’s victory over the Nazis.
Also featured was the ‘Z’ symbol, which has been likened to a Russian swastika invented for the war in Ukraine and now used as a nationalistic rallying point.
The full show will be broadcast on 8 May, the eve of a vast Red Square military parade commemorating ‘Victory Day’ - the end of the Second World War.
The theme at the annual Alina Festival was unmistakably intended to boost patriotic support for Putin’s military adventure in Ukraine.
Kabaeva seemed to wear a wedding ring and a dress from the new collection of London-based designer Alessandra Rich, who has previously supplied Samantha Cameron for a state occasion with President Obama.
The silk fuchsia midi dress appeared to send a message that she is ready to defy Western sanctions, which have attempted to cut off Russian's from Western goods.
The dress costs around four times the monthly average Russian monthly salary and was made in Italy.
Wearing a patriotic St George’s ribbon on her chest, Kabaeva also linked victory in the Second World War to today's events: "This theme, you see, this story, doesn’t only go into the past.
“It stays with us.”
Her words resonate with Putin’s claim that his modern-day war is against “Nazis” who control Ukraine, just as World War Two was waged to defeat Hitler's Nazis.
Such claims have been strongly refuted by those in Ukraine and in countries across the West, where it is seen as a thin attempt to justify the war.
“This celebration is not just for the whole country, this is a holiday for every family,” said Kabaeva.
"Every family has a war story.
"And we mustn’t ever forget it, but pass it on, from generation to generation."
Girls of different ages were dressed in a wartime uniform at the show.
Putin, 69, is expected to use the 9 May Victory Day to claim some kind of success in his war in Ukraine, despite a Russian death toll that some estimates have put as high as 30,000.
Russian media continued to obsess about Kabaeva’s new-look since appearing for the first time since December.
Russian Cosmopolitan said “something has really changed in Kabaeva’s face”, adding that “the legendary athlete was noticeably prettier”.
Avoiding linking her to Putin and therefore risk censure, the magazine said of a woman widely believed to be Russia ’s unofficial first lady: “Alina Kabaeva is one of the most mysterious and secretive women in our country.
“The gymnast almost never appears in public, does not (appear in) social networks, and it is not possible to accidentally see her on the street or in shopping centres.”
Telegram channel Tol’ko Nikomu - also choosing its words carefully to avoid the Russian censor - hinted that she and Putin share the same plastic surgeon.
“A new rare appearance of Alina Kabaeva. This time she is dressed casually - and is again seen with a wedding ring," they wrote.
“And yes, the handwriting of the family beautician is quite notable.”
Unlike two of Putin’s adult daughters Maria and Katerina, media mogul Kabaeva has avoided Western sanctions, despite controlling a significant segment of the pro-Kremlin Moscow media.
Jailed Putin foe Alexei Navalny has demanded sanctions against her.
He singled out Kabaeva’s National Media Group arguing that it was likely owned by Putin personally.
Her salary here has been estimated at almost £8 million a year, compared with the average annual figure of £5,600 in Russia.
Navalny posted from jail: “I want to remind you that the National Media Group, which owns the lion's share of this apparatus of lies, undoubtedly belongs to Putin personally, and as such is even formally headed by Putin's mistress Alina Kabaeva.”
He called for her as a Putin propagandist to be treated as a “war criminal”.
Kabaeva has kept a low profile since Russia started its war with Ukraine.
There has been speculation that she and her secret young family have been hiding from the war either in Switzerland or in one of several high-grade bunkers in the Urals, Arctic or Siberia.
Rumours first linked her romantically to Putin as long ago as 2008 when she was a pro-Kremlin MP.
The newspaper which then printed the speculation was rapidly closed down.
Putin - who in 2013 announced his divorce from wife Lyudmila, a former Aeroflot stewardess - has previously said: "I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.”
He has said that he deplores "those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives”.
In 2001 Kabaeva was temporarily banned from competing in rhythmic gymnastics after failing a doping test.
A year earlier she had won gold at the 2000 summer Olympics.
Once regarded as Russia’s most eligible woman, her only other suitor has been a married Georgian policeman, according to media reports.
This relationship petered out in 2005 amid complaints of tabloid intrusion into her life.
Kabaeva is reported to have a fleet of Maybach limousines at her disposal, and was seen surrounded by a squad of machine-gun toting security guards on visits to a Moscow cafe, likely indicating she qualifies for state-level security.
Many Russians saw her as the reason for the breakup of Putin’s marriage to ex-first lady Lyudmila, 63, mother of his two adult daughters.
The dictator of neighbouring Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, hinted that Putin's divorce decision came about because Kabaeva "put pressure on the president".
From 2018 she disappeared from the public eye for almost three years, amid suspicions she had given birth to twins at a Moscow hospital .
Tabloid Express Gazeta claimed in May last year that she had “literally vanished.
“After the giving-birth-to-twins reports nothing was heard about Kabaeva, as if she had disappeared," the paper wrote.
“Alina is not giving interviews, nor attending social events, nor participating in any TV programmes.
“One can only guess what is happening in her private life.”
In her only statement linked to the war, Kabaeva slammed the refusal to allow the Russian team to compete at the Beijing Paralympics.
“There has never been a more shameful page in the history of world sports,” she said.
“They did not worry and did not remove from the competition any country that participated in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
“But sports officials were very angry when Russia decided to protect the Donbas and Luhansk from the Nazis."
