After the leak, Putin reportedly argued with Kabaeva, claiming that her friends ‘talk on every corner about everything they know and don’t know’. ‘Putin said that he had 100 per cent information that the leak came from Kabaeva’s circle of friends,’ the channel claimed. Kabaeva is a 39-year-old Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnastics star who later became a pro-Putin MP, and now runs a major media group that slavishly backs the Kremlin. The pair have never acknowledged a relationship, even though they are suspected to have at least two children together.
