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Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Russian president Vladimir Putin has two secret sons who live an isolated life of luxury in a heavily-guarded mansion, according to a Russian investigative journalism website.
The Dossier Centre reported that Ivan, nine, and Vladimir Jr, five, spend most of the year at their father’s vast mansion near Lake Valdai, northwest of Moscow.
Their mother is Alina Kabaeva, the former Olympic rhythmic gymnast whose relationship with Putin has been an open secret in Russia for more than a decade, the Dossier Centre claim.
The two boys are surrounded by governesses, nannies, teachers and officers from the Kremlin Federal Guard and enjoy playing with a huge lego set and an iPad, the report said.
“They have to play mostly alone or with adults,” the report, compiled with the help of a member of staff at the Valdai residence, said. “They only see their parents late at night.”
There are two ponies, rabbits, and a St Bernard dog which is cared for by Kremlin guards but lives with the family. The two children are believed to annoy Putin with Disney cartoon impressions.
Ivan was born in spring 2015 at the Sant’Anna maternity clinic in the Swiss city of Lugano, while Vladimir Jr was born in spring 2019 in Moscow, the report said.
Putin has never made any direct reference to the boys. However, this week, he told schoolchildren in Siberia that, “Members of my family, the little ones, speak Chinese.” They are also believed to be learning English and German.
The Dossier Centre said it had found pictures of Ivan but does not publish them for ethical reasons.
In the compound, staff are barred from leaving the grounds, but have use of a gym and tennis court. The salary on offer was £6,500 a month. The Dossier Centre said that turnover was high.
The Putin sons cannot be found in government databases, from infancy they have cover documents, which are mostly made for spies and people under state protection.
“Their dates of birth are only known by their immediate family. They don’t fly on regular flights, they have separate planes,” the report said.
“They don’t attend kindergartens or schools, they are [taught by] hired governesses. They live in residences guarded by the FSO, sail on yachts and ride armoured trains.”
In February and March the boys relocate to a luxury residence close to the Krasnaya Polyana resort, where they have been learning to ski.
They spend July and August on luxury yachts, usually in the Gulf of Finland, on the Black Sea coast and Russia’s northern lakes. The boys travel by armoured train or private jet.
