Submitted by citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

Petition calls on Swiss authorities to expel Putin's mistress

  • Putin and his ex-wife Lyudmila.

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  • Putin and Kabaeva have been photographed together on several occasions.

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The citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine have called on the Swiss government to expel the mistress of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is rumored to reside in the country, and they filed a petition in this regard that collected more than 63,000 signatures.

Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 38, is believed to have arrived there earlier this month and is staying in a private chalet as Putin wages war on Ukraine.

It is widely believed that Kabaeva is the mistress of this Russian strongman and the mother of his four children, but he has not yet officially recognized them.

Kabaeva, who in addition to being a secret partner of Putin, is chair of the board of directors of the National Media Group, a television company and newspaper that complies with the Kremlin's instructions, has not been sanctioned by the West yet. Kabaeva's salary amounts to nearly £8m a year.

The two were photographed together on several occasions, and investigations by the Anti-Corruption Foundation, which was set up by Putin's imprisoned rival, Alexei Navalny, revealed that a number of Russian oligarchs inexplicably gave gifts, property, money and assets to the Kabaeva family.

The former gymnast is rarely seen in public, but she was shown on video dancing at a rhythmic gymnastics tournament in Moscow in December last year, just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

“We, the citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, which are currently suffering greatly from war, appeal to the Swiss authorities to expel the invited Elena Kabaeva,” the petition, which was published on change.org in German, French and English, reads.

"The public has just learned that this former Russian political, media, and sports figure is disappearing in Switzerland due to the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation," the petition adds.

"She is the favorite wife of a delusional dictator and war criminal who treacherously attacks Ukraine," the petition continued.

The petitioners questioned why the Swiss authorities continued to host her and her family, at a time when “Putin is destroying the lives of millions.”

"For the first time in modern history, your country has violated its neutrality, which it did not even towards Nazi Germany in the twentieth century, and joined the sanctions imposed on Putin and his entourage," the petition says to the Swiss.

There is still no evidence that Kabaeva, a pro-Putin former lawmaker, is in hiding in Switzerland.

The petition calls on the Swiss authorities to "investigate very carefully the legal basis on which the country is hosting this character, and to verify the cleanliness of the money they use to buy real estate in Switzerland."

Recently, Kabaeva appeared in public very few times, but she did make a statement criticizing the decision to ban the Russian team from competing in the Beijing Paralympics because of the war in Ukraine.

"There has never been a shameful page in the history of world sport like this," she said.

"They did not worry and did not exclude any country that participated in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria," she added.

"But the sports officials were very angry when Russia decided to protect Donbass and Luhansk from the Nazis," she concludes.

Putin, who in 2013 announced his divorce from his wife Lyudmila, a former Aeroflot flight attendant, said: "I have a private life in which I do not allow anyone to interfere, it must be respected."

He added that he regretted "those who delve into the lives of others and stick their deceptive noses and sensational illusions into their affairs."

In 2001, Kabaeva was temporarily banned from competing in rhythmic gymnastics after failing a doping test.

A year earlier, she won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She reportedly has a fleet of Maybach limousines at her disposal, and is seen surrounded by an array of machine guns carried by security guards while visiting cafes and restaurants in Moscow.

Many Russians saw her as the reason for Putin's separation from his ex-wife Lyudmila, 63, the mother of his two adult daughters.

• Many Russians considered Alina Kabaeva to be the reason for Putin's separation from his ex-wife Lyudmila.


• There is no evidence yet that Kabaeva, a pro-Putin former member of parliament, is in hiding in Switzerland.

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