Alina Kabaeva: Why is the US reluctant to sanction Vladimir Putin’s ‘girlfriend’?

Russian president Vladimir Putin shakes Alina Kabaeva’s hand during a meeting in 2004. Some reports in the media suggest that the couple are secretly married and have four children. AFP

The United States has gone all out in sanctioning Russia and those close to President Vladimir Putin. Even his daughters, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, have not been spared. However, a look at the sanctions list and one name is conspicuous by its absence – Alina Kabaeva, the 38-year-old rumoured girlfriend of the autocrat.

The former gymnast, an Olympic gold medallist, has been linked up with the 69-year-old president for years. Some reports in the media suggest that the two got secretly married and have four children including twins born in 2019. Putin, however, has never acknowledged the relationship officially.

A personal attack?

Despite being the closest to Putin, the “First Lady in the shadows”, has not been slapped with sanctions. Officials in the United States decided against it citing concerns that the move would be too drastic, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Like his daughters, Kabaeva is suspected to have helped Putin hide his wealth outside the country. However, the US stayed its sanctions as it would hit Putin both personally and financially and might prompt an escalation in the war in Ukraine, the newspaper reported.

Sanctions on Kabaeva will ‘hurt’ Putin

The calls for sanctions on Kabaeva have grown as Russia continues its relentless attack on Ukraine. Georgy Alburov, a Russian activist who works with jailed anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, called for Kabaeva to be sanctioned on 6 April.

In her work as chair of the board of the state-owned Russia’s National Media Group, she is “literally fuelling this war,” Alburov tweeted. “She is too much of a propagandist.”

After spending six years as a parliamentarian in Putin’s United Russia Party, Kabaeva took charge of Russia’s National Media Group in September 2014. The media body had a stake in Channel One, one of the country’s state-controlled television channels.

Russian-born former US intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler said on a primetime show that Kabaeva should be sanctioned. The move could “certainly hurt” Putin he said.

“Unfortunately, she is not capable of stopping Putin from waging war on Ukraine. But, it will certainly hurt,” Koffler, said according to The New York Post. “It will make her life miserable, and it will definitely, definitely [cause] some damage to his holdings, his wealth that is stashed away in all kinds of tax havens including spread among his relatives and family”

He added the reasoning for US officials not to sanction Kabaeva makes “no sense.”

On US’ next list?

The rumoured girlfriend was in the sights of the US Treasury Department in the wake of the invasion but dodged sanctions at the 11th hour after the National Security Council intervened, WSJ reported. However, she is a potential target of upcoming sanctions, according to media reports.

“We have prepared sanctions on a number of people who haven’t yet been sanctioned, and we continue to think about when to impose those sanctions for maximum impact,” an official said.

Kabaeva has backed the war and recently resurfaced to lead a patriotic festival hailing the heroism of Russia’s armed forces. She was reportedly hiding in a chalet in Switzerland while Russia invaded Ukraine.

The US has accused Kabaeva and her family of getting rich off the connection to Putin. An investigation by US intelligence into the 2016 election names her as a beneficiary of the Russian leader’s money.

The Ukrainian government has also asked the West to sanction Kabaeva.

With inputs from agencies

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