Vladimir Putin’s alleged mistress has been hit with sanctions by the US government’s Treasury Department over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Alina Kabaeva, 39, was on the latest update to the Federal Office for Foreign Assets Control’s list of specially designated nationals, freezing her US assets and generally barring Americans from working with her.
The move came just over three months after the White House said that Kabaeva, a famous former rhythmic gymnast, was safe from sanctions, nor anyone else, even after her last-minute removal from a round of such punishments in April.
UK officials similarly sanctioned Kabaeva – who is now chairman of Russia’s New Media Group, the country’s largest private media company – in May.
Western countries have imposed economic sanctions on associates and associates of Putin to punish the Russian president, 69, for his decision to invade Ukraine in February. The US avoided a direct confrontation with Russia over the invasion, despite providing billions of dollars in weapons and other resources to help Ukraine.
The Kremlin has long denied that Putin, who is divorced, was romantically involved with Kabaeva, but various published reports suggest she is the mother of at least some of his children. A Moscow newspaper that in 2008 reported that Putin and Kabaeva were involved, even though he was still married at the time, was closed soon after for unclear reasons.
Kabaeva, who is originally from Uzbekistan, won gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. She later spent more than six years as an MP in Putin’s United Russia party before taking over National Media Group in 2014, her only previous experience in the company industry being her hosting of a TV talk show.
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