According to the American newspaper New York Post, the images show 10-year-old Ivan and 6-year-old Vladimir Jr. practicing gymnastics, mirroring the athletic discipline that made their mother a star.

Ivan even gave a short interview, speaking enthusiastically about the “cool” moves he learned from Olympic champions Alexei Nemov, Evgeniya Kanaeva, and Tagir Khaibulaev.

The footage is said to come from an event organized by Kabaeva last January at the academy that bears her name.

The New York Post reports that Putin has placed a protective shield around the two boys out of fear they could be targeted. For this reason, the children and their mother are believed to be living in a heavily fortified forest compound in Valdai, northwest of Moscow.

The boys reportedly use the alias “Spiridonov” as their surname.
“Information about [Kabaeva] and her children has been wiped from state databases; the boys have been given a cover name — Spiridonov — and the entire area surrounding the tsar’s family residence in Valdai is under tight security,” journalists Roman Bananin and Mikhail Rubin report.

“Spiridonov” was the surname of Putin’s paternal grandfather, who lived from 1879 to 1965.

Putin and the 41-year-old Kabaeva are believed to have been in a relationship since at least 2008, though this has never been publicly acknowledged.