Putin has two secret sons who love Disney, investigation reveals
By Daniel Hardaker
London: Vladimir Putin has two secret sons who love to impersonate the Disney characters he loathes, an investigation has revealed.
Ivan Putin and Vladimir Putin Jr, aged nine and five, reportedly spend most of their time at a fortified hideaway in Valdai, north of Moscow.
Alina Kabaeva, a former champion rhythmic gymnast and now a Duma member, is the mother of two of Putin’s boys.Credit: AP
Their mother is Alina Kabaeva, 41, a retired Olympic gymnast and the 71-year-old’s long-time lover, according to an investigation by the Dossier Centre, which was founded by the exiled former oligarch and opposition activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The children are said to live a luxurious but isolated life at a variety of presidential residences, where they are taken care of by round-the-clock teachers, nannies, personal chefs, drivers, sports trainers and tutors.
The two boys are also free to play with a large assortment of Lego sets, as well as two ponies, rabbits and a St Bernard dog that are cared for by agents from the Kremlin’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
They drink only from their own personal mugs, like their father, who is frightened of being poisoned, and have separate special meals prepared for them. They eat with staff at breakfast and noon, then take an afternoon nap.
Simba and Rafiki from the Disney film The Lion King.Credit: Disney
Visits from their father are said to be “special” occasions for the boys, with the Russian president reported to especially enjoy playing ice hockey with the elder son, Ivan.
The teams in these matches are made up entirely of FSB agents, apart from the two Putins, who always play on the same side.
However, the Russian president has expressed annoyance that the boys could not be entirely shielded from Western influences.
Ivan enjoys spending time pretending to be characters from Disney cartoons, which he can only do alone or with his minders because of his father’s preference for Soviet cartoons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin with gymnast Alina Kabaeva at a Kremlin banquet in Moscow in 2004.Credit: AP
“Our Soviet cartoons, of course, are of a completely different quality: naturally, their emotional and aesthetic impact on a developing person is completely different,” Putin said.
The family advertised for a live-in English teacher for the boys. The job description did not identify the family, but warned that the post would require two weeks of quarantine before starting work at Valdai.
The offered salary was £6500 ($12,700) per month, which has reportedly not prevented high turnover in the job.
Putin and Kabaeva have had staff from Britain in the past, but are now understood to prefer workers from South Africa because the country is perceived to have friendlier relations with Russia.
The report by the Dossier Centre is said to have been compiled with assistance from a member of staff at the Valdai complex.
Dossier Centre also said that it had obtained geolocation data of phone devices that confirmed the presence of FSB and Federal Guard Service agents at the residence.
Khodorkovsky, Dossier Centre’s founder, spent a decade in Russian prisons and currently lives in London.
The Telegraph, London
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.