Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly insisted his girlfriend and former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva have an abortion, according to an unidentified source cited by the General SVR Telegram channel.
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An 'untimely' and 'undesirable' pregnancy
It was first rumoured that Kabaeva was pregnant back in May, and it is believed that she already has multiple children with Putin. Putin’s demand has apparently led to a ‘worsening’ of their relations, as reported by the Mirror.
On Wednesday 15 September, General SVR posted:
Russian President Vladimir Putin considered Kabaeva's pregnancy untimely, and the birth of another, unplanned child, undesirable. As a result, relations between Putin and Kabaeva worsened.
And at the end of August, the president insisted that Alina have an abortion, despite the fact that the pregnancy was already more than 20 weeks and there were no medical and social indications for abortion. After the abortion, complications arose and for some time Kabaeva could not appear in public.
An apparent assassination attempt
The same unnamed source claimed in a separate post that Putin's car was attacked in an apparent assassination attempt on an unspecified date. The head of the Kremlin was travelling back to his official residence by limousine in a decoy or 'backup' motorcade of five armoured vehicles due to security fears. General SVR said, as reported by Daily Record:
On the way to the residence, a few kilometres away, the first escort car was blocked by an ambulance, [and] the second escort car drove around without stopping [due to the] sudden obstacle, and during the detour of the obstacle.
In Putin’s car 'a loud bang sounded from the left front wheel followed by heavy smoke'. However, the car was still able to drive back safely. The channel continued:
Subsequently, the body of a man was found driving [the] ambulance, which blocked the first car from the motorcade.
The head of the president's bodyguard [service] and several other people have been suspended and are in custody. A narrow circle of people knew about the movement of the president in this cortege, and all of them were from the presidential security service.
After the incident, three of them disappeared. These were exactly the people who were in the first car of the motorcade. Their fate is currently unknown. The car on which they were traveling was found empty a few kilometres from the incident.
However, both claims about the supposed abortion and assassination attempt remain unverified. Newsweek has fact checked the information, and has noted that General SVR has been subject to widespread skepticism, as it provides no evidence to support its claims. The channel is a 'popular platform for misinformation and conspiracy theories'.
Sources used:
- The Mirror: 'Vladimir Putin's limo 'attacked in assassination attempt' amid Ukraine war'
- Daily Record: 'Vladimir Putin's limo 'attacked in assassination attempt' as Ukraine war rages'
- Newsweek: 'Fact Check: Did Vladimir Putin Face an Assassination Attempt?'
Read more:
⋙ Vladimir Putin's alleged girlfriend is a 'cover operation', according to former Russian MP
⋙ Vladimir Putin uses the CIA to keep his girlfriend Alina Kabaeva away from her ex