Sanctions on Alina Kabaeva, who is said to have been Vladimir Putin’s ally for years, plans to be imposed by the European Union, while sanctions will be imposed on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Cyril, Putin’s ally who “blessed” the war in Ukraine.
The United States and the European Union have already imposed sanctions on Putin’s adult children. Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova.
Two sources cited the Guardian reported that the EU has proposed sanctions against Kabaeva, a former Olympian whose appearance on the draft list was first reported by Bloomberg. Cyril appears in a draft document leaked to the Guardian.
Kabaeva and Cyril are two of dozens of people facing a travel ban in the EU and a freeze on assets as part of new restrictions being discussed by member states, with more than 1,000 Russian oligarchs already on the sanctions list. The new names, however, must be approved by 27 EU Member States.
According to Bloomberg, citing a document, Kabaeva is described as “closely linked to President Vladimir Putin.”
Kabaeva won the gold medal at the 2004 Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympics and was also a flag bearer at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
He served as a member of parliament for six years representing Putin’s United Russia party and then headed a large Kremlin-backed media group, despite the apparent lack of experience in SME management.
In 2008, a Moscow newspaper reported that Putin had secretly divorced Ludmila’s wife and was planning to marry Kabaeva. The Kremlin categorically denied the story and the newspaper was shut down shortly afterwards. Putin announced his divorce in 2013, after 30 years of marriage.
Kabaeva’s name had also fallen on the US sanctions table. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government had suspended sanctions on Kabaeva over concerns that Putin would consider it a personal attack. The White House, however categorically deniedthis report, insisting that no one is safe from sanctions.
As for Cyril, he is included in the EU sanctions plan with his birth name, Vladimir Gudayev, and is described as “one of the most prominent supporters of the Russian military offensive against Ukraine.”
The patriarch’s support for the war led to a clash with the pope, who urged Cyril earlier this week not to “be Putin’s grandson.”
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