Who on earth, they wondered, could be important enough to require a phalanx of machinegun-toting uniformed guards, all clad in bulletproof vests, just to buy a late-night cup of coffee at Coffeemania in Kudrinskaya Square?

When the car doors opened, they had their answer. Out stepped a strikingly beautiful young woman whose face was instantly recognisable to those who saw her.

Alina Kabayeva, a former Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast, is widely believed to be the lover of Russian President Vladimir Putin and, according to several sources, the mother of at least one of his children.

Although she is rarely seen in public — and never on Putin’s arm — the 31-year-old is seen by many Russians as their country’s undeclared First Lady.

But, like so many things in Putin’s private life, Alina Kabayeva has been kept hidden in the shadows.

Indeed, while the 62-year-old Russian leader continues to rattle his sabre at Nato after annexing parts of Ukraine, on the home front he has silenced stories about his private life, maintaining a carefully choreographed public image as the strongman hero of his country.

Russian journalists claim it is easier to report on matters of national security than the inner workings of Putin’s private life. As we shall see, there are repercussions for those who dare.

Nevertheless, fragments of information continue to seep out.

Last week, for example, a TV documentary which aired in Germany made a series of eye-catching allegations against the bellicose leader. According to the programme, Putin The Man, documents from the archives of Germany’s spy agency BND claim that during the early years of his marriage to his former wife Lyudmila, Putin was a ‘wife-beater and a philanderer’. The information was obtained by a female agent posing as the then Mrs Putin’s interpreter.

The programme also alleged that the Russian leader is terrified of getting old.

‘Putin is afraid of physical decay, he is afraid of ageing,’ biographer Ben Judah told the programme-makers.

In an effort to stay young, Putin — who has in the past been photographed with tigers and polar bears as well as horse riding bare-chested in Siberia — is said to take hot and cold baths followed by gym sessions to hone his athletic figure.

According to one Western intelligence report, cited by the programme from German television company ZDF, he even had a facelift in 2010 to iron out the creases in his forehead and the bags beneath his eyes, in readiness for his return as president in 2012 after a brief stint as prime minister.

(dailymail.co.uk)