Russian president Vladimir Putin is to become a father again after his ex-gymnast lover fell pregnant, according to reports. The 69-year-old leader is alleged to have fathered two kids with 39-year-old Alina Kabaeva in recent years.
Now the couple are expecting a daughter, according to the General SVR Telegram channel - a web account said to be updated by Kremlin insiders. The same reports claim that when told of the news, Putin grumbled: "I have enough children as it is, and had enough daughters long ago".
Putin's private life is shrouded in secrecy - and it is not known exactly how many children the despot has, according to our sister title The Mirror. His best-known daughters are academic and businesswoman Maria Vorotsova, 37 and scientist and former dancer Katerina Tikhonova, 35, who he had with ex-wife Lyudmila.
Both have been sanctioned by the west since the start of Russia's War in Ukraine, which began 136 days ago on February 24. Tikhonova was said by a German newspaper to have repeatedly flown there to receive "vampire facelift" cosmetic treatment - that reinjects a patient's own blood to stop wrinkles.
In March 2015, it was claimed that Kabaeva gave birth to a son at a VIP clinic in Switzerland, and in 2019, she reportedly had twins in Moscow. But a swiss-Russian gynaecologist told Swiss press in 2022 that both births were of boys which would mean Putin has two sons aged 7 and 3 by his now-pregnant mistress who he once awarded the title Honoured Master of Sports.
Meanwhile, Russia's replacement for McDonald's is facing a chip shortage days after customers complained of mouldy burgers. US fast food giant McD's left the country after the Kremlin launched their brutal invasion of neighbouring Ukraine with stores taken over by replacement "Vkusno i Tochka" that loosely translates as "Tasty and That's it" or "Yummy - full stop."
The food woes came as Brit support for Ukraine was bolstered when the RAF sent fighter jets to Sweden and Finland. The countries, applying to join NATO, requested an increased presence.
The Foreign Office has set up a specialist team to offer support to families of those captured by Russian forces in Ukraine as the tally of Brits that could face the death penalty in captivity rose to four last week. Ukraine's president Zelensky was pictured visiting hospitals on the front line as fighting rages on in the Donbas region.
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