Putin and lover staying in luxury mansion

Russian president Vladimir Putin is living with his lover, gymnast Alina Kabaeva and their children in a luxury property, an independent Russian media group, Proekt, has reported, according to the Daily Mail.

The mansion, near Lake Valdai, is said to be registered to a company controlled by Yury Kovalchuk, a Kremlin-linked billionaire who is known as Putin’s banker.

The property was built around the time of Putin’s presidency, 1999, and is located in a forest in Valdai, 250 miles northeast of Moscow, the report said.

“The uncrowned queen of Russia”, Ms Kabaeva is believed to have been Putin’s lover since the early 2000s, including while he was still married.

Following his official divorce from former first lady, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, Putin, 70, brought Kabaeva, 39, to the property. Kabaeva is said to have an entourage who care for her and her children at the property.

A Moscow newspaper was closed down within hours of writing about the alleged affair in 2008 between Ms Kabaeva and the Russian president, which Putin later denied.

Ms Kabaeva vocally supports the invasion of Ukraine and was an MP in Putin’s ruling United Russia party between 2007–2014. During that time, she was appointed head of the National Media Company on an annual salary of £7.7 million, despite having no media management experience.

The Valdai property has an indoor pool, ornate dining rooms, a cellar, lavish study with chandeliers and is located near a spa resort. There is a train station and helicopter pad next to the Valdai residence. An armoured train departs from a secret station in Moscow with a direct route to the mansion.

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