Comment The United States imposed sanctions on the alleged romantic partner of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, part of the latest round of sanctions targeting Kremlin-linked officials and entities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Alina Kabaeva, 39, was among 13 Russian nationals added to the Finance Ministry’s sanctions list. A former gymnast with two Olympic gold medals, Kabaeva has become more widely known in recent years as the rumored girlfriend of the 69-year-old Russian leader. The US statement on Tuesday referred to Kabaeva’s “close relationship with Putin”, although it did not specifically indicate a romantic link. But the US government maintains that Kabaeva is the mother of at least three of Putin’s children, the Wall Street Journal reported, and had previously prepared a package of sanctions against her before making a last-minute decision in late April to stop so as not to harm prospects. for a negotiated peace in Ukraine. Kabaeva has also served as a deputy of Putin’s party in the State Duma and currently heads the pro-Kremlin National Media Group, which operates a network of television and radio stations and publishes newspapers in Russia. Kabaeva was already under sanctions from the EU and the UK. “As innocent people suffer from Russia’s illegal war of aggression, Putin’s allies have enriched themselves and financed lavish lifestyles,” Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a press release. “The Treasury Department will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Russian elites and Kremlin officials are held accountable for their complicity in a war that has cost countless lives.” Kabaeva, who was born in Uzbekistan in 1983, rose to prominence in Russia as one of the most distinguished gymnasts in rhythmic gymnastics. Her athletic career was not without controversy, however – she had to return two medals from the 2001 Goodwill Games following a doping scandal. Kabaeva retired from the sport at the same time reports emerged that she was romantically linked to Putin. The Kremlin has denied the alleged link. A Russian newspaper that published an article in 2008 saying Putin and Kabaeva were romantically involved was quickly shut down under mysterious circumstances. Putin and his wife of 30 years, Lyudmila Putina, divorced in 2014. Kabaeva and her family have benefited greatly from connections with Putin’s circle, according to Russian and American media reports. A classified US intelligence assessment of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election listed Kabaeva as a beneficiary of Putin’s wealth, the newspaper reported in April, citing a US official. The lavish lifestyles of Putin’s reported girlfriends have fueled speculation about their relationships with the Russian president. The Pandora Papers, a trove of documents revealed by the Washington Post and a consortium of news organizations last year, showed that another woman allegedly romantically involved with Putin had a fancy apartment in Monaco and a shell company in the British Virgin Islands — yet as it was unclear how he had amassed such wealth. Kabaeva made her first public appearance in months in late April when she headlined the annual “Alina Festival,” a patriotic rhythmic gymnastics festival in Moscow. He stood in front of a stage decorated with the letter Z, the state’s symbol for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States previously imposed sanctions on Putin’s daughters from a previous marriage, Katerina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova, after evidence emerged of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces during their occupation of the suburbs of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Atrocities included the beheading and torture of civilians. The latest sanctions target Russian elites and businesses operating in sectors “that generate significant revenue for the Russian regime,” the statement said. In addition to Kabaeva, they include Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev, founder of a Russian chemical company and owner of London’s second largest estate after Buckingham Palace, and Viktor Filippovich Rashnikov, the majority owner and chairman of the board of MMK, one of the largest steel producers in the world. . Two subsidiaries of MMK were also sanctioned. Sanctions freeze the US assets of those targeted and prohibit US persons or entities from doing business with them. The State Department, meanwhile, announced new sanctions on three Russian oligarchs and Kremlin-backed officials in areas of Ukraine held by Russian or proxy forces, including Mariupol and Kherson. The sanctions also target 24 Russian defense and technology entities, including research centers. “Our actions target some of Russia’s most important defense-related research and development organizations, semiconductor producers and advanced computer and electronics entities,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in a statement. “These actions will further isolate Russia’s defense and high-tech industries and limit their contribution to Moscow’s war machine.” The ministry also imposed visa restrictions on nearly 900 Russian officials as well as “31 foreign government officials who acted to support Russia’s alleged annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and thereby threatened or violated Ukraine’s sovereignty.” Canada also unveiled a new round of sanctions on Tuesday, targeting 43 military officials and 17 entities “complicit in the senseless bloodshed of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” including the atrocities in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, according to a Global Affairs Canada statement.
