Alina Kabaeva, a woman who has been romantically linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is included in the sixth proposed package of European Union sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, according to two European diplomatic sources, CNN reports.
Alina Kabaeva who is an ex-gymnast and former member of the Duma, is part of a new list of personalities threatened with a ban on entry into the EU and an asset freeze.
According to the report by AFP, Brussels has offered to sanction Alina Kabaeva for her role in Kremlin “propaganda” and her “close” ties to President Vladimir Putin.
The media have been claiming that the Russian president has had a relationship with Alina Kabaeva for years, which Vladimir Putin denied in 2008.
Alina Kabaeva “is the chairman of the board of directors of the National Media Group (NMG), a holding company that owns significant shares in almost all the main Russian federal media outlets that reproduce Russian government propaganda”, notes the European Service for external action.
The ex-gymnast and former State Duma deputy is “closely associated with President Vladimir Putin”, adds the document.
“Beneficiary of Vladimir Putin’s fortune”
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, which quotes US officials, Alina Kabaeva is described by a confidential US intelligence report as a beneficiary of Vladimir Putin’s fortune, AFP reports.
Three other people, working for the state agency Ria Novosti and qualified as “propagandists”, are also on the list submitted to member states on Wednesday by the service of the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
These four names are added to those of 58 people, including the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, numerous Russian soldiers suspected of “war crimes” in Boutcha and members of the family of the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov, whom Brussels proposed on Tuesday to put on the European blacklist.
European sanctions, taken since 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, already concern 1091 people and 80 entities.
The sixth package of sanctions under discussion provides for a progressive embargo on Russian oil, the exclusion of the most important Russian bank, Sberkank (37% of the market) and two other establishments of the international financial system Swift, as well as the prohibition of broadcasting of three Russian TV channels, including Russia 24 and Russia RTR.
The unanimity of the Twenty-Seven is required for the adoption of sanctions.