The Dossier Center reported on Wednesday that Putin’s elder son, born in Switzerland in 2015, is called Ivan, and his younger brother, born four years later in Moscow, is named Vladimir Jr.
The Russian president is said to have fathered the boys with Kabaeva, with whom he has been widely reported to be in a relationship for over a decade.
The former gymnast was a member of Russia’s parliament, the Duma, between 2007 and 2014, since when she has headed the country’s largest private media holding, the National Media Group.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any relationship between the 71-year-old president and Kabaeva, who is 30 years his junior.
Dossier’s investigation suggests the pair were romantically involved from as early as 2008, the Moscow Times reported.
According to his official biography, Putin has two daughters from his first marriage with Lyudmila Putina née Shkrebneva, whom he divorced in 2013, The Moscow Times said, going on to report that Ivan Putin has told his tutors that when he was born, his father cried out: “Finally, a boy!”
A gilded cage
The brothers are said to live in luxurious isolation with round-the clock security, nannies and personal tutors. Among the evidence the Dossier Center published was an advertisement for the job of private English teacher it said was by an agency hired by the Putin family.
The vacancy offered live-in work in the St Petersburg region with a monthly salary of €7,700, with the stipulation that the tutor would not be permitted to leave the premises.
In addition to language lessons, the two boys have personal swimming and gymnastics trainers and travel in private jets and helicopters as well as in the family’s own armored train, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe.
Despite the location given in the job posting, Dossier reported that the two sons live at Putin’s private mansion in Valdai National Park in Russia’s Novgorod region, northwest of Moscow, where they have little contact with children of their own age.
“They have to play mostly alone or with adults…They only see their parents late at night, and their peers — mainly during big celebrations,” the Moscow Times reported Dossier as saying.
The Kremlin has not commented on Dossier’s revelations.
