August 06, 2022

Sanctioning Romance


Sanctioning Romance
Vladimir Putin and Alina Kabaeva as she received the Order, "For Merit to the Fatherland". Wikimedia Commons, Russian Presidential Press and Information Office. 

On August 2, 2022, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released an update to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alleged girlfriend, Alina Kabaeva, is now among the sanctioned few.

Kabaeva, a well-known athletic figure, rose to fame as an Olympic rhythmic gymnast. She also served in the United Russia party as a politician and lawmaker for approximately six years.

President Putin and Kabaeva are rumored to have had romantic relations since the early 2000s, even during the president's prior marriage with Lyudmila Putina. Since 2015, Kabaeva is rumored to have secretly given birth, in Switzerland, to two sons fathered by Putin, which has been consistently denied by the Kremlin.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US Treasury has sanctioned close associates of Vladimir Putin. Now that Kabaeva has been sanctioned on the most recent SDN list update, her economic assets in the US, if any, are frozen, and her chance of conducting business negotiations with Americans is constrained.  

The US is not the first country to sanction Kabaeva. Canada, the European Union, Australia, and the United Kingdom have also placed sanctions against Putin’s alleged partner.

You Might Also Like

Putin's Pooches
  • October 07, 2021

Putin's Pooches

On this, Vladimir Putin's 69th birthday, we are reminded that even authoritarian leaders are softies for good dogs. Maybe especially so?
Time to Move?
  • August 04, 2022

Time to Move?

An English-language video released by the Russian embassy in Madrid lists reasons why Westerners should pack up their things and move in.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955