Vladimir Putin is shelling out thousands each month to raise his children – including sons he reportedly shares with Alina Kabaeva – to have a ‘Western lifestyle’ , according to leaked documents
Vladimir Putin has used British nannies to raise his children, new files have revealed – despite the Russian leader blasting people who copy Western lifestyles as “traitors”.
Leaked documents show thousands of pounds have been spent each year on private tutors for two boys widely believed to be his children with Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva – between 2017 and early 2026.
And despite the ramping up of his anti-NATO rhetoric in this time, Putin has continued to shell money on helpers from “enemy” countries to create a “Western bubble” lifestyle for Vladimir Jr, who is thought to be around seven years old, and Ivan, who is 11.
According to the investigation by Radio Svoboda, the two boys receive private home-school education with a focus on European languages, such as English and German.
Both are surrounded by a team of around 20 private tutors hired from abroad, including Britain, Germany and Austria, and live an isolated lifestyle.
They live in a luxury mansion for by Putin, which is reported to be on a compound surrounded by a anti-missile defence system, and do not attend school or interact with other children their age. It comes despite Putin having famously labelled citizens who take cultural inspiration from Western Europe as “national traitors” in an ill-tempered speech after the invasion of Ukraine.
With the 73-year-old Russian president known to have become increasingly germophobic in his old age, the children’s belongings are also subject to a strict disinfection regime, and detailed notes are kept on their meals and activities.
House staff and tutors are paid a handsome $8,000 (£6,000) a month to live on location, but are subject to strict requirements on what they can and can’t teach – including a total ban on LGBT topics and sex education. Documents also suggest that Vladimir Jr and Ivan are only allowed to play male characters during role-playing exercises.
But some insiders have claimed that despite the money involved, their experience at the house was not a happy one – with one likening themselves to “robots carrying out orders in complete isolation from the world”.
Another, an English teacher from the United Kingdom named in files as “Harry A”, asked for two months of unpaid leave in 2023 because of “burnout from living in quarantine”.
Jane M, a 58-year-old British-Irish tutor, was meanwhile barred from visiting “public places” in her free time. The Kremlin has never confirmed Putin’s relationship with 2004 Olympic Alina Kabaeva, or publicly acknowledged the two children.
