From Russia with Love Vladimir Putin's 'mistress' and secret family hide out in Switzerland as war rages

The woman believed to be Vladimir Putin's secret mistress is hiding out with their four young children in a private chalet in Switzerland, it has been claimed.

Former Olympic gold-winning gymnast, Alina Kabaeva (38) who was once called “Russia's most flexible woman”, is said to share two sons and two seven-year-old twin daughters with the 69-year-old Russian dictator.

With war raging in Ukraine, the decorated gymnast is now in a “very private and very secure chalet somewhere in Switzerland,” a source has been quoted as saying.

Putin has been romantically linked to Kabaeva for well over a decade.

However, Kabaeva - dubbed “Russia’s First Mistress” - has gone on the record to deny she is the Russian president’s partner.

This has failed to stop rumours that the pair are engaged, married and have a secret family together.

There have been many reports of her wearing a wedding ring, although there are no records of a marriage.

However, many Russians see Kabaeva as the reason for the breakup of Putin's marriage to ex-first lady Lyudmila (62) mother of his two adult daughters.

The dictator of neighbouring Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko hinted that Putin's divorce decision came about because Kabaeva “put pressure on the president."

In 2016, Kabaeva appeared in public wearing a ring on her ring finger, which she attempted to hide from the cameras.

She was wearing the ring again during a rare TV interview, where she failed to shed any new light on her alleged relationship with the Kremlin leader, whose name wasn't mentioned.

In February 2017, Kabaeva made another public appearance apparently showing off her wedding ring at a gymnastics tournament in Moscow.

The notoriously private Putin never discusses his life off the stage and once declared: "I have a private life in which I do not permit interference.

“It must be respected,” Putin has previously said, while dismissing those “who, with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives".

Before she met Putin Kabaeva was among Russia’s most successful gymnasts, with two Olympic medals, 14 World Championship medals, and 21 European Championship medals to her name.

After retiring from gymnastics, Kabaeva began her career in politics, and was a Member of the Russian Parliament between 2007 and 2014, representing the United Russia party.

During her time in parliament, she voted for a number of controversial laws, including the Russian gay propaganda law making the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" among minors a punishable offence.

In September 2014, Kabaeva accepted a position as a chair of the National Media Group, the largest Russian media conglomerate.

She is reported to have a fleet of Maybach limousines at her disposal, and has been surrounded by a squad of machine-gun toting security guards on visits to a Moscow cafe.

Romance between the athlete and the Russian President was first rumoured in 2008 and it is believed she was pregnant by the ruler while attending a public event in 2015.