Russia. “The Wall Street Journal” about the sanctions against Alina Kabaeva and a “personal slap to Putin”

It’s been a few weeks since the United States and its allies first started To impose sanctions Russia’s largest corporations as well as major business and political leaders, including President Vladimir Putin. However, not a single person was included in it, and the decision was made at the last minute: it is Alina Kabaeva, a woman considered by the US government to be Putin’s partner and mother of at least three of his children, the Wall Street Journal wrote on Sunday.

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Citing US officials, the newspaper confirms that 38-year-old Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnastics champion known for her “extraordinary flexibility and participation in the international doping scandal”, is suspected of helping to hide Putin’s personal assets abroad and remains the likely purpose of Penalties.

According to the “Wall Street Journal”, there is a conviction among US officials discussing this issue that imposing sanctions on Kabaeva “would be a personal slap to Putin that could further escalate tensions between Russia and the United States and harm the course of peace talks on Ukraine.”

As the US Daily reports, the Treasury and State Department usually work together to prepare sanctions packages. Often, a package of sanctions must be approved by the National Security Council before it is announced; According to the “Wall Street Journal”, in the Kabaeva case, the Treasury Department prepared sanctions against her, but the National Security Council decided to remove her name from the list to be announced.

“We’ve prepared sanctions for a lot of people who haven’t yet had them, and we’re still wondering when we’ll introduce them to maximum effect,” a US official said in response to questions from the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper notes that the Kremlin has long denied reports of Putin’s relationship with Kabaeva. The Russian president’s spokesman did not respond to this editor’s request for comment.

Read: Kremlin spokesman on sanctions against Vorontsov and Tikhonova

In early April, Russian dissident Georgy Alborov He called for sanctions against Kabaeva. “Putin’s mistress is the head of propaganda, her media is fueling the war in Ukraine, she is the benefactor of Putin’s corruption, and her relatives are getting apartments and houses bought with money stolen from the Russians,” he said.

Alborov, a Russian blogger, anti-corruption activist and aide to well-known dissident Alexei Navalny, wrote on Twitter: “Kabaeva should be punished immediately. Help me spread this case, and then it will definitely be done.”

The Wall Street Journal cited Alborov’s plea urging US lawmakers to impose sanctions on Kabaeva, claiming that she was supposed to help hide Putin’s personal assets, but provided no evidence for this.

“Western officials say that they do not know Kabaeva’s exact position in the Kremlin’s government structure. The controversy over sanctions reflects the view of many Western officials about Putin’s personal power – the former gymnast may be one of the most influential in Russia because of her closeness to the Russian leader, “- confirms American newspaper.

According to the findings of the American and European security services, Kabaeva spent a lot of time in Switzerland, which was also reported in April by Local activists demanded her expulsion from the country.

Putin’s alleged partner was living in a luxurious mansion surrounded by a high wall near Geneva.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Ukrainian government sent a letter to the Swiss government in April demanding that Kabaeva be barred from entering the country and have her assets frozen. According to the newspaper, the answer was no. The Swiss authorities stated that they had no evidence of Kabaeva being in their country.