Russia-Ukraine war: Putin's rumoured girlfriend hit by latest US sanctions

President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with gymnast Alina Kabaeva at a Kremlin banquet in 2004. Photo/ ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service via AP, File

A new round of US sanctions targeting Russian elites includes a woman named in news reports as Vladimir Putin's longtime romantic partner.

The Treasury Department said yesterday that the government has frozen the visa of Alina Kabaeva, an Olympic gymnast in her youth and former member of the state Duma, and imposed other property restrictions. The department said she is also head of a Russian national media company that promotes Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Critics of the Kremlin and imprisoned Russian rights campaigner Alexey Navalny have been calling for sanctions against Kabaeva, saying her news outlet took the lead in portraying Western commentary on the invasion as a disinformation campaign.

The UK sanctioned Kabaeva in May and the EU imposed travel and asset restrictions on her in June.

Former gymnast, politician and media manager Alina Kabaeva attending a concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2018. Photo / Mikhail Svetlov, Getty Images, File

Also named in Treasury's latest sanctions package is Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev, an oligarch who owns the Witanhurst estate, a 25-bedroom mansion that is the second-largest estate in London after Buckingham Palace.

His $120 million yacht, the Alfa Nero, was also identified as blocked property. Also sanctioned was his son Andrey Andreevich Guryev and his son's Russian investment firm Dzhi AI Invest OOO.

"As innocent people suffer from Russia's illegal war of aggression, Putin's allies have enriched themselves and funded opulent lifestyles," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

"Together with our allies, the United States will also continue to choke off revenue and equipment underpinning Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine."

As innocent people suffer from Russia’s illegal war, Putin’s allies have enriched themselves and funded opulent lifestyles. @USTreasury will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that Russian elites and the Kremlin’s enablers are held accountable for their complicity. https://t.co/NnZhgDUH1f

— Secretary Janet Yellen (@SecYellen) August 2, 2022

The State Department also imposed additional visa restrictions and other sanctions.

In April, the US imposed sanctions on Putin's adult daughters Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova.

- AP