Inside Putin’s tangled family life – from secret sons with mystery ‘First Lady’ ex-gymnast to love child with cleaner
FRESH details about Vladimir Putin’s reported secret sons have shone a light into the tangled family life of the Russian tyrant.
Putin, who is said to be suffering from dementia, reportedly shares the two sons with his secret gymnast lover, according to a doctor present at the birth.
Putin's personal life has predominantly been characterised by several relationships and several children - some acknowledged, others not.
While little has still been officially confirmed, information continues to leak through as sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine continues to bite hard on the Putin ensemble.
MYSTERY FIRST LADY
Putin is widely rumoured to in a relationship with glamorous gymnastics champion Alina Kabaeva.
The Olympic gold medal winner and TV favourite has not had any other suitors since 2008 despite being one of Russia's most eligible women.
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She was first romantically linked with Putin a decade ago.
The Kremlin has denied she is his secret First Lady but rumours have persisted including claims she gave birth to at least one child.
One popular Russian newspaper called her the "First Lady, but in the shadows".
In September 2017 she was pictured with what looked like a wedding ring during an event in Italy.
THE ‘SECRET’ KIDS
Putin and Kabeva are thought to have had secret children together, although there has never been any official confirmation of either their relationship or their kids.
Kabaeva, 38, is said to be "holed up in a very private and very secure chalet in Switzerland," a source told .
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"Alina has two young boys and twin girls with Putin who were born in Switzerland," the source added.
"The kids all have Swiss passports, and I imagine she does also."
Kabaeva has been linked to the Russian leader for more than 13 years, and in May it was alleged that she had had two sons by him - one born in Switzerland in 2015 amid huge security and the other in 2019 in Russia.
Kabaeva had also travelled multiple times to Switzerland before starting her relationship with Putin, believed to be in 2007.
As war sanctions were imposed this year, rumours suggested that she and her children were hiding out the war at a Swiss chalet retreat.
But in April - after a four-month absence from the limelight - she reappeared in Moscow sporting pro war attire.
THE EX-WIFE
The Russian President and former KGB officer, 69, was married to Lyudmila Shkrebneva for over 30 years, until their divorce in 2014.
He met the former Aeroflot flight attendant in Leningrad - now Saint Petersburg - and married her in July 1983.
Lyudmila is a linguist and from 1990-94 taught languages at Leningrad State University, before her husband's political career took off in local government in St Petersburg.
After Putin became president in 2000, Lyudmila served as the First Lady of Russia but preferred to stay out of the limelight.
In June 2013 the couple announced they were to separate and the end of their marriage was confirmed in April the following year.
THE MISTRESS AND THE TEEN QUEEN
Another of Putin’s alleged love children was unmasked as Elizaveta Krivonogikh in November 2020.
Elizaveta was named as Putin’s secret daughter by investigative media outlet Proekt backed by a visual computing expert at a British university.
Her mother Svetlana Krivonogikh, 45, is alleged to have had an affair with the strongman leader when he was head of the FSB counterintelligence service, prime minister and during his first term as Russian president.
The mistress is claimed to be a cleaner-turned-millionaire who owns a nightspot featuring "erotic shows”.
In April, it was reported that she and her daughter had been living in a "palace" like £1.7 million home in St Petersburg as it was revealed they were renting out another luxurious gold plated home in the city.
It came a year after Elizaveta was reportedly seen for the first time being driven by an official government car to a packed venue in the Moscow as she celebrated her 18th birthday party.
She has refused to confirm findings by Bradford University visual computer expert Hassan Ugail that she shows a “phenomenal resemblance to the Russian president”.
TWO DAUGHTERS
Despite the split, Putin shares two daughters, Maria and Katerina, from his marriage to Lyudmila and they are his only confirmed children.
Maria is said to be an endocrinologist and has a career in medical research.
She is believed to be married to a Dutch businessman, Jorrit Faassen, with whom she has a family, making Putin a grandfather.
Katerina, 33, meanwhile, has gone from being a high-kicking "rock’n’roll" dancer to spearheading a major new Russian artificial intelligence initiative.
She was formerly married to Russia’s youngest billionaire, Kirill Shamalov, 38, though is now divorced.
She gained a doctorate from Moscow State University after completing a study on helping cosmonauts and pilots to orientate themselves in difficult conditions.
In June 2020, unseen pictures of the two as daughters as teenagers hemerged from the private collection of an estranged friend.
They were released as part of a $15milllion legal case brought against the Russian state by former Putin confident Sergei Pugachev, 57.
Speaking of his daughters in 2015 Putin said: "My daughters live in Russia and studied only in Russia, I am proud of them," he said. "They speak three foreign languages fluently. I never discuss my family with anyone."
"Every person has a right for their fate, they live their own life and do it with dignity," he added.
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But Luiza admitted to Russian GQ that she “probably” looks “similar” to a young Putin while adding “there are a lot of people who resemble Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin).”
The Russian leader has never acknowledged her as being his daughter after her existence was first reported.
