Brussels: The European Union has now decided to included Alina Kabaeva, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged girlfriend, in the sixth proposed package of EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, CNN reported citing two European diplomatic sources.
At this stage, names can be taken off or added at the discretion of member states’ and is expected to be a point of negotiation when any new sanctions package is proposed, an EU Commission source told the news website.
The EU has not officially signed off on the draft proposal yet.
Kabaeva, who was born in 1983, was first linked to Putin more than a decade ago, while she was a medal-winning gymnast.
Putin, who is divorced, has denied any relationship with her.
As per the BBC report, Kabaeva moved into politics, holding a seat in Russia’s lower house of parliament from 2007-2014 with the ruling United Russia party.
In 2014 she became chair of the National Media Group, which has large stakes in almost all major Russian state media outlets.
Kabaeva has made public statements in support of the Russian military since the start of the war in Ukraine, most recently calling on Russian citizens to rally behind the war effort.
