[imagesource: Sergei Chirikov / AFP via Getty Images]

The UK, EU, and the US have slapped sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fellow cronies and close political buddies, and even his two adult daughters, Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsova.

But what about Putin’s alleged mistress, who may possibly still be holed up in a luxury bunker while the war in Ukraine rages on?

Alina Maratovna Kabaeva, 39, has already been sanctioned by the UK and EU, the latter putting in place travel and asset restrictions against her in June, noted The New York Post.

Despite the slew of punitive measures taken against the Kremlin in response to the invasion of Ukraine, US sanctioning has been slow on the uptake of Putin’s alleged gal pal.

The US was considering sanctioning her in April, but was concerned that such a move would “inflame tensions given her close proximity to Putin,” CNN reported.

Yesterday, the Treasury Department finally announced their imposition, freezing Kabaeva’s visa and arresting some of her property.

Image: The Sun

Kabaeva supposedly has four – potentially a fifth, although that has not been independently verified – children with Putin, which the Treasury officials note as a “close relationship with Putin”. She is also the “head of a pro-Kremlin empire of television, radio, and print organizations”.

Additionally, she is a former member of the State Duma, which is part of the Federal Assembly of Russia.

Besides being Putin’s lover (allegedly since 2008), she was also nabbed “for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the Government of the Russian Federation”:

“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 in a statement.

“The Treasury Department will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that Russian elites and the Kremlin’s enablers are held accountable for their complicity in a war that has cost countless lives.”

Critics of the Russian elite, including Russian rights activist Alexei Navalny, have been actively calling out Kabaeva, arguing that she deserves to be sanctioned because she “accused West commentary of the February 24 invasion of pushing a disinformation campaign”.

Meanwhile, Andrey Grigoryevich Guryev, a wealthy oligarch who owns the second largest property in London after Buckingham Palace, the 25-bedroom Witanhurst estate, has also been slapped with sanctions.

His son was also targeted and his $120 million yacht, the Alfa Nero, was blocked.

Who knows if these financial penalties are actually felt by Putin and his cronies, all of whom seem to have terribly deep pockets?

[sources:cnn&nypost]