The two sons of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former gymnast Alina Kabaeva use a different surname and are registered in official documents under the names Ivan and Vladimir Spiridonov, journalists Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin reveal in their new book "Tsar in his own person". This information was published on the Russian president's birthday - October 7.
The surname "Spiridonov" was chosen in a symbolic way - it comes from the name of Putin's paternal grandfather, Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, a veteran of World War II.
According to the authors, Ivan and Vladimir live mainly in the presidential residence in Valdai, where a separate wooden palace with a luxurious spa complex, a children's area and a large park has been built for Kabaeva and her children. The service personnel subordinate to the presidential guard (FSO) also regularly reside there.
The book also publishes for the first time photographs of the two boys, which have never been shown publicly before.
Journalists remind that both of Putin's daughters from his first marriage - Ekaterina Tikhonova and Maria Vorontsova - also use different surnames. The surname Tikhonova was chosen after the name of her maternal grandmother, Ekaterina Shkrebneva.
Separately, Putin's illegitimate daughter, Elizaveta Rozova, lives in France under the name Elizaveta Rudnova, the surname being borrowed from the late media manager Oleg Rudnov, a close friend of the president who died in 2015.
The publication by Badanin and Rubin confirms earlier investigations by the publication "Dossier", according to which Putin has at least two sons by Kabaeva, and all of them have cover documents issued by the Russian authorities.
The Kremlin has not officially commented on the information about the president's family.
Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said only that Putin will celebrate his birthday "in the company of his relatives and grandchildren who love and respect him," without specifying whether Alina's children are among them. Kabaeva.