It was dawn on June 29, 2021, when journalist Roman Badanin was awakened by the persistent ringing of his apartment doorbell in Moscow’s Chertanovo district.

Outside stood six to eight men in plain clothes—members of the FSB, Russia’s federal security service—holding a search warrant. For six hours they turned his home upside down, while police officers searched the cars of both him and his wife. He was then taken to a police station and interrogated non-stop for four hours.

The scale of the operation could have suggested a billion-dollar scandal or a conspiracy against the state. But Badanin’s “crime” was simply publishing a brief, low-key interview with a young woman who claimed to be Vladimir Putin’s illegitimate daughter.

“It’s very simple,” the now 48-year-old Badanin told The Daily Mail. “Putin’s private life is one of the biggest taboos. Among Russian journalists, there’s a saying: ‘Don’t touch his family.’”

Shortly afterward, Badanin was forced to flee Russia with his wife and daughter, settling in California. There, together with his close colleague Mikhail Rubin, he wrote the book The Tsar Himself: How Vladimir Putin Fooled Us All, which contains revealing details about the Russian president’s personal and romantic life.

From the KGB to the Halls of Power

Putin, a former officer of the notorious KGB, entered politics after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Within three years, he had already become deputy mayor of St. Petersburg.

At the time, he was married to Lyudmila, a former Aeroflot flight attendant, and father of two daughters. But his family life did not prevent him from frequently visiting a strip club called Luna in the city center. According to witnesses, he organized “meetings” in private rooms on the upper floor, protected by a group with ties to his then-bodyguard, Roman Tsepow.

The Cleaner Who Became a Millionaire: The Case of Svetlana Krivonogikh

Putin’s first known extramarital affair is said to have been with Svetlana Krivonogikh, a cleaner who worked in a shop in St. Petersburg and was known for her beauty.

According to Proekt’s findings, their relationship began in 1999, when Putin was still prime minister, and in 2003 they had a daughter, Elizaveta—now known as Luiza Rozova.

In 2020, the young Rozova gave an interview to Badanin’s website, which enraged the Kremlin. Journalist Andrei Zakharov, who conducted the interview, later wrote that the girl “bears an astonishing resemblance to the Russian president.” A facial analysis by the University of Bradford found a 70.44% similarity with Putin.

Although the father’s name does not appear on the birth certificate, Rozova carries the patronymic “Vladimirovna”—a detail that would be difficult to explain as coincidence.

Around the same time, her mother’s life changed dramatically. In 2003, Krivonogikh bought, through an offshore company, an apartment in Monte Carlo worth £2.9 million. The Pandora Papers later revealed that her fortune exceeded £78 million, including luxury properties in Moscow and St. Petersburg and even a yacht.

The Gymnast Who Became the “Secret First Lady”

The next woman linked to Putin was Alina Kabaeva, an Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2004 Athens Games and a national hero in Russia. With the help of her coach, Irina Viner—wife of oligarch Alisher Usmanov—Kabaeva met the Russian leader shortly after her victory.

A year later, Putin awarded her the “Order for Merit to the Fatherland” at the Kremlin. Rumors of a relationship between them grew in 2006, and a year later her former partner, singer Murat Nasyrov, died mysteriously after falling from a Moscow apartment balcony.

In 2008, the newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent published a report that Putin and Kabaeva were preparing to marry that summer in St. Petersburg. The article caused an international sensation, with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi joking beside Putin during a joint press conference.

Putin reacted angrily: “I know the stereotype that politicians live in glass houses, but there must be limits. I’ve always despised those who project their erotic fantasies onto the lives of others.” Berlusconi jokingly mimed “shooting” the journalist.

Soon after, the newspaper’s offices were raided by the FSB, editor Grigory Nekhoroshev was forced to resign, and the paper was shut down under pressure.

Kabaeva may never have officially married Putin, but she is said to have two sons with him—10-year-old Ivan and 6-year-old Vladimir—and to wield considerable influence. Since 2014, she has headed the National Media Group, with an annual income of £7.7 million, and is a shareholder in Bank Rossiya, one of the country’s largest private banks.

That same year, during the Sochi Winter Olympics, the two were seen wearing matching rings, and Kabaeva was a torchbearer at the opening ceremony. Around that time, Putin finalized his separation from Lyudmila after three decades of marriage.

The Wife Who “Spoke Out” and the Split That Marked the End

According to the book, the estrangement between Putin and his wife began much earlier. In the summer of 2004, during the presidential couple’s official visit to Mexico, film director Igor Shadkhan, an old acquaintance of the family, visited their hotel room. During the conversation, he dared to tell Putin that he risked turning into an authoritarian leader who would drag Russia back to the Soviet era.

The remark provoked a strong reaction from Lyudmila, who—according to the authors—became “hysterical” and, almost in tears, tried to persuade him not to seek a second term. The director left, realizing he had witnessed a scene he was never meant to see. From that moment, the authors write, Lyudmila’s fate was sealed: she had publicly disagreed with a man who demanded absolute control—not only over his country but over his own family.

The couple finally announced their separation in 2013 and divorced in 2014. Lyudmila, as revealed, resented her husband’s endless working hours, while he described her as a “difficult woman” whom only heroes could tolerate for more than three weeks.

The Student of the “Hot Calendar”

In 2010, while his relationship with Kabaeva was ongoing, Putin is said to have become involved with a 17-year-old student named Alisa Kharcheva, who participated in a suggestive birthday calendar dedicated to him.

In the photo shoot, wearing a satin top and smiling provocatively, she was accompanied by the caption: “Vladimir Vladimirovich, you’re the best!” The calendar reportedly reached the Kremlin, and according to journalistic sources, “Miss April” visited the president twice a month for a year.

Kharcheva’s fortunes changed dramatically. She enrolled at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, and a few years later lived in a luxury apartment within a guarded complex in the capital. In 2012, she posted a photo wearing a red dress and holding a kitten beside a portrait of Putin, with the provocative caption: “Pussy for Putin.”

Marriage Doesn’t Matter – The Culture of Power and Dependency

As Badanin and Rubin note, Putin and his close circle view marriage as a “non-binding institution,” where infidelity and polygamy are accepted, and where a woman’s professional success often depends on her relationship with powerful men.

Despite successive rumors and affairs, Alina Kabaeva—now 42—remains the most enduring presence in the 73-year-old Russian leader’s life. In 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, reports claimed she was living in a luxury chalet near Lugano, Switzerland. Later she is said to have returned to Russia, where she continues to hold her position and privileges.

The Price of Revelation

The story of Roman Badanin, the authors note, serves as a warning to anyone who dares to “poke their nose” into the Russian president’s private life. After the publication of Rozova’s interview, not only Badanin’s home but also those of Rubin and other Proekt collaborators were raided.

A few weeks later, while on a planned vacation in Morocco, Badanin learned that he had been declared a “foreign agent” and “undesirable” in Russia. “We realized that if we went back, we’d be arrested. Anyone working with so-called ‘undesirable persons’ can end up in prison,” he says today.

He and his wife returned briefly only to collect their belongings and help about ten colleagues escape. Since then, they have lived in exile in the United States.

The book The Tsar Himself sheds light on a side of Vladimir Putin that the Kremlin strives to erase: a leader who seeks absolute control not only over his nation but over everyone around him.

The women who crossed his path—from the cleaner-turned-millionaire to the Olympic champion who gained power and wealth—form part of a broader picture: a Russia where loyalty is rewarded, silence is enforced, and power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.