Putin admits he is ‘in love’ but refuses to say who the woman is

Vladimir Putintoday admitted he is ‘in love’ – but refused to tell Russians the name of the woman who captured his heart. In an apparently planted question by Russian state media during his annual end of year Q&A, he was asked: ‘You said today that you believe love at first sight exists. ‘Vladimir [Putin], are you in love?’ The divorced dictator – notorious for keeping his private life secret – replied to the question with a simple ‘yes’.

It was not immediately clear if he was alluding to his 18-year secret relationship with Alina Kabaeva, 42, an Olympic gold-medal winning rhythmic gymnast. The couple share two children who live under pseudonyms – Ivan Spirodonov, ten, and brother Vladimir Spirodonov, six. They are believed to live with him in his hidden palaces in numerous locations around Russia. Yet he never speaks about them.

One theory is that Putin, 73, is aiming to come out and admit to his relationship and secret family after years of hiding them from the public eye. Another is that the hard-faced despot simply wanted to soften his image among his people by admitting that he is capable of showing love. Yet it is reported that Putin had cheated on Kabaeva with an underage beauty pageant contestant.

The school-leaver was secretly smuggled to Putin – 58 at the time – when gymnast Kabaeva was away. Alisa Kharcheva, was 17 when she was first seduced by Putin, it is alleged in revelations this year by Russian investigative journalists. ‘The girl visited the [then] prime minister regularly — these visits naturally coincided with the departures from the residence of Alina Kabaeva, who by then was already Putin’s main partner,’ stated Proekt.

‘His formal wife, Lyudmila, was no longer living with the prime minister.’ Later, in 2014 he and Lyudmila divorced. They had two children together, Maria, now 40, and Katerinia, 39. Alisa’s visits were reportedly once every two weeks. Putin also had a long affair with Svetlana Krivonogikh, now 50, a banker and striptease club owner.

This led to the birth of Putin’s love child Luiza, 22 – real name Elizaveta Krivonogikh, who he never speaks about . She now lives in the West – in Paris. She recently told a Ukrainian journalist whose brother was killed by a Putin strike: ‘I’m really sorry that this is happening. ‘Unfortunately, I’m not responsible for this situation.

‘I’m glad you had the courage to come up to me and talk, but unfortunately….’ A book recently told how Putin publicly espouses traditional marriages but for himself prefers ‘free’ relationships and sleeps with ‘a multitude of women’. Putin once said: ‘I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. ‘It must be respected.’ He deplored ‘those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives’.