David Dastych – At a press conference with Silvio Berlusconi on Sardinia, Vladimir Putin officially denied a story that had circulated the world since Friday, April 16. Smiling and relaxed, Putin said “there is not a single word of truth” to the report carried by Moscow tabloid Moskovsky Korrespondent alleging that the former Russian President intended to marry a gym champion, model and MP, Alina Kabaeva, on June 15.

In its last weekend issue, the Moscow tabloid, specializing on spicy gossip about celebrities, had reported about 55-year-old Putin’s plans to wed former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva (25)

Moskovsky Korrespondent since apologized and then folded. “But he did not stop there. Putin seemed to enjoy playing up the image of a ladies’ man. He clearly relished the question from the Kremlin pool reporter and went on to say that he likes all Russian women,” AP reported from Porto Rotondo on April 18. Some time earlier, Alina Kabaeva, a member of the State Duma (lower house of Russian Parliament), had categorically denied the report and had demanded the tabloid issue a denial or face libel charges. The paper apologized: “We deeply regret if the information published in our article was found by its heroes as insulting. We apologize to all those, who consider that this story has caused them moral sufferings,” Moskovsky Korrespondent wrote in its front-page editorial. See a video report:

The sensational “romance story” of the Russian top politician and a lovely young woman of Russian-Uzbek extraction could end right here. But still some questions sound “on air”. Let’s begin from the basic facts.

In its last weekend issue, the Moscow tabloid, specializing on spicy gossip about celebrities, had reported about 55-year-old Putin’s plans to wed former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva (25) on June 15, in Tsarskoe Selo (“Tsar’s Village”) near St.Petersburg. Moskovsky Korrespondent had also claimed that the Russian leader had divorced his wife Lyudmila back in February, although on March 2, 2008 they were publicly seen together at the polling station to cast their vote for the presidential election. The paper also claimed they had obtained “confirmed” information from local officials about preparations being made for a lavish wedding party at a former royal palace at Tsarskoe Selo. In fact, the place could be ideal for a “tsar’s wedding”, with its Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace with its beautiful gardens and fountains.

There is no doubt, Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva know each other, though she is not the only young beauty the former President has met in person and entertained.

Putin’s Babes
According to Russian media reports, several attractive and witty young women have been invited (by Putin) to join the country’s politics.

“Vladimir Putin has succeeded in ‘sexing-up’ the image of his United Russia party as a result of the December 2007 parliamentary elections. Apparently frustrated with the lack of beautiful women in his party, the President has recruited Svetlana Zakharova, the principal ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, and no fewer than four former athletes turned topless models to become deputies in the Duma. These ladies, already known as ‘Putin’s babes’ are:

• Svetlana Khorkina, 28, a feisty, blonde, seven-time Olympic medal winning gymnast. “It’s very good to be sexy,” says the newly-elected representative. “I posed naked for Russian Playboy when I was 17 or 18 and it was a great pleasure. Why not if you’ve got something to show? I will work as a part of Russia’s strongest political team.“

• Svetlana Zhurova, 35, an Olympic speed-skating champion, says she entered politics because “youth is our future”. She poses topless, sometimes with her skates as props, for men’s magazines.

• Natalia Karpovich, 35, a boxer and bodyguard before she entered politics, has posed wearing nothing but her boxing gloves.
• Alina Kabaeva, 24, a rhythmic gymnast known for her extreme flexibility, has appeared naked wrapped in fur. 

• Svetlana Zakharova, 28, is considered to be one of the world’s greatest ballerinas. “Everything about the Kremlin excites me,” she says. “There is some mighty energy concentrated there, even the air is different.”

Viktor Gribachev, a Russian political analyst and former press officer for the Russian parliament said: “We are definitely ahead of all in terms of ladies with sex appeal among our MPs. These young women are full of energy and eagerness to become serious law-makers.” Putin himself is no stranger to the topless photo opportunity. His popularity increased when he appeared shirtless in a series of pictures taken on a fishing trip in Siberia last summer.

…and what about Lyudmila?
She was also an attractive young woman and she still remains one, at 50.

“Lyudmila Putin, 43, stepped firmly into the ranks of world leaders’ wives with an interview demonstrating her religious faith, her charity work, her devotion to her husband and her recipe for soup” reported “The Times” on December 29, 2001.In her first interview to a Russian newspaper, Mrs Putin, 43, also provided glimpses of her home life, admitting that she sometimes argued with her husband even now he was the President and saying that her new role made it “very hard to remain myself”. The whole Putin’s family are active Russian Orthodox believers.

On her birthday, Vladimir Putin, 49, gave her a golden chain and cross. “When I woke up it was lying on the bedside table,” she said. “He had bought it two months earlier in Jerusalem. His self-control and patience always amaze me. When I buy presents I have to give them straight away.” She told Komsomolskaya Pravda: “We go to church about once a month. I don’t like to talk about my faith in public. It is a very personal thing, but I do believe faith can unite people.”

“The Putins met 21 years ago when he was a student and she was an air hostess. She used to fly to St Petersburg from her home town of Kaliningrad to meet him for dates. Mr Putin courted his future wife with characteristic caution, proposing to her 3½ years later. They have two daughters, Masha, 16, and Katya, 15.” (One of them is married and lives in Munich, Germany now).

“Regarding a woman’s role in life, Putin’s views are crystal-clear—and not exactly progressive—45-year-old Lyudmila said in a biography of the Russian leader released on September 4, 2002. He has two basic rules: “a woman must do everything at home” and “you should not a praise a woman, otherwise, you will spoil her,” she confided to journalist Oleg Blotski in “Vladimir Putin: The Road to Power.” And his background as a spook may have slightly contaminated his relations with his spouse, Lyudmila Putin went on.” He has put me to the test throughout our life together. I constantly feel that he is watching me and checking that I make the right decisions,” she complained.”

Was Vladimir Putin putting his wife to a test again? How come a Moscow paper produced a story that could have destroyed Putin’s longtime established marriage? Russia is a mysterious country, indeed.

This article was first published at Canada Free Press

David Dastych, 67, is a veteran journalist who served both in the Polish intelligence and the CIA; jailed in Poland by the Communist regime he spent several years in special prison wards; released in early 1990’s he joined international efforts to monitor illegal nuclear trade in Europe and Asia; handicapped for lifetime in a mountain accident in France, in 1994; now he returned to active life and runs his own media agency in Warsaw.