'I love him very much': When Putin's rumoured girlfriend went candid about her 'ideal man'

The Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva, widely believed to bePresident Vladimir Putin's rumoured girlfriend, revealed her idea of an "ideal man" in a recently discovered interview. A Moscow-based newspaper first reported on the affair in 2008. However, neither Putin nor Kabaeva has ever admitted to being involved with each other.

Over the years, the two have been spotted together with formal parlance of Moscow's centre of power, fueling speculations and reports of the two being romantically involved.

In a nearly 15 years old public interactionthat has now resurfaced, the Olympic rhythmic gymnast can be heard speaking about her relationship. Kabaeva, however, has not named Putin and has kept her comments open to interpretations.

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"Have you met your ideal man?"a young boy asked her during the audience-led interview cited by The Telegraph.

Kabaeva can be seen reacting with apause for a few seconds. She rearranges her chair,fiddleswith a pen, to finally say: "I have met him."

Another girl asked who the mystery boyfriend is.

"A man, a very good man, a great man," Kabaeva said, adding: "I love him very much."

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When this public interaction took place in 2008, Vladimir Putin was married to Lyudmila Ocheretnaya. Putin and Ocheretnaya divorced in 2014.

Reflecting on infidelity, Kabaeva answered if she would ever be with a married man.

"If a man is already looking at another woman and is already talking to her then the problem in the family has already happened," she said. "In that case, there can be no good in that family."

Asked what the last gift she received from her mystery man was, Kabaeva said: "An Alaska coat, a coat with fur, very beautiful."

Earlier this week, The Project reported that Kabaeva and Putin have been living together in a luxurious palace about 250 miles north-west of Moscow.

Kabaeva retired from professional gymnastics in 2006, following which she formally joined Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. She is also a director at a private media company backed by a Putin ally.

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