Vladimir Putin’s rumoured lover refuses to mention Ukraine in rare public appearance

Vladimir Putin ’s so-called lover has made a rare public appearance in which she shunned all mention of the war in Ukraine and the dictator’s rumoured ailments.

Gold-medal-winning Olympic star Alina Kabaeva, 39, has been seen less than half a dozen times this year but made an appearance to open a new gymnastics training centre.

At the complex in Sochi, she avoided mention of Russian President Vladimir Putin following claims he had slipped down the stairs of his Moscow residence.

She also made no direct reference to his war in Ukraine in which hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian civilians and soldiers have tragically lost their lives.

Instead, Ms Kabaeva told gymnasts at the Divine Grace international tournament that the “impossible is possible”.

She continued: “When I was in gymnastics, and an athlete, I could not even dream of such conditions [as you have in this new sports training centre].

“But as life shows, the impossible is possible and Russia is a country of big opportunities.”

The Moscow state media are not permitted to discuss her 15-year relationship with Putin nor the children they are rumoured to share.

The last time Russia’s undisclosed first lady was seen in public was in September.

Russian showbiz outlet Starhit described her as looking “slimmed down, with an elegantly shaped face”, which may have been alluding to the plastic surgery that both she and Putin are rumoured to undergo.

Kabaeva has no official role in Russia but sometimes crops up in rare appearances such as these.

Rumours in September swirled that she has been ordered by Putin to have an abortion.

“We already talked at the beginning of May this year that Alina Kabaeva was pregnant, and after the sex of the unborn child became known, we reported that Putin and Kabaeva would soon have a girl,” posted the Russian opposition Telegram channel, General SVR, in September.

It continued: “Russian President Vladimir Putin considered Kabaeva’s pregnancy untimely, and the birth of another, unplanned child, undesirable. As a result, relations between Putin and Kabaeva worsened.

“And at the end of August, the president insisted that Alina have an abortion, despite the fact that the pregnancy was already more than 20 weeks and there were no medical and social indications for abortion.

“After the abortion, complications arose and for some time Kabaeva could not appear in public.”

The channel claims inside knowledge of Kremlin affairs without offering hard evidence.