Investigation finds Putin's reported partner Kabaeva accompanied him to Kazakhstan in 2017
Russian outlet Proekt, using leaked border service data, found that Alina Kabaeva was in Kazakhstan in February 2017 during Putin's official visit there — reportedly the only documented case of her being abroad during one of his state trips.
Russian investigative outlet Proekt, analyzing leaked data from Russia's Federal Border Service, reports that Alina Kabaeva — described as Vladimir Putin's longtime partner and the mother of his sons — was in Kazakhstan in February 2017 at the same time as Putin's official visit to the country.
According to the investigation, Kabaeva flew to Almaty on a private Embraer Legacy 650 jet on February 23 and returned to Russia four days later, on February 27. Putin's official visit began that same day, though he himself had arrived in Kazakhstan several days earlier than the announced start of the trip — a fact corroborated by Russian state media reports of an informal meeting between Putin and then-Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Shymbulak ski resort.
Only documented instance
Proekt states this is the only known case of Kabaeva traveling abroad during one of Putin's official visits, effectively serving as first lady. Her presence on the trip was never officially disclosed.
The aircraft, registered D-AHOI, was operated by Air Hamburg, later absorbed into VistaJet. Proekt estimates the flight cost roughly $26,000. The same jet has reportedly been used over the years by the families of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev.
The outlet suggests Kabaeva may have accompanied Putin on other trips as well, pointing to his June 2016 visit to Uzbekistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Putin arrived there on June 23, and Kabaeva returned to Moscow on June 30 aboard a scheduled Aeroflot flight. However, the leaked data contains no record of her leaving Russia beforehand — possibly due to a data gap, or because she flew to Uzbekistan on a government aircraft.
