Russian President Vladimir Putin has grown close to a “Barbie-lookalike” who is 32 years younger to him. According to New York Post, 39-year-old Ekaterina “Katya” Mizulina is an art historian who heads pro-Kremlin Safe Internet League. The main part of her job is to stamp out criticism of Russia and its President, especially on the war against Ukraine. Ms Mizulina is the daughter of Pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine senator Elena Mizulina, 69.
“Katya Mizulina is completely to Putin’s taste. This Barbie type has always suited him very well,” Russian human rights campaigner Olga Romanova told Ukraine’s Channel 24, as per the Post report.
Mr Putin, 71, has long been rumoured to be in a relationship with Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva. The pair are believed to share three children.
The Russian President divorced his wife of 30 years, Lyudmila, in 2014.
Several Ukrainian media outlets and Telegram channels in Russia have been posting the news about Mr Putin and Ms Mizulina, claiming that they grew close to each other recently. However, nothing official has emerged about the relationship so far.
Russian Telegram site Kremlevskaya Tabakerka said its sources “were extremely careful in talking about it, because no one can offer a 100% confirmation”.
The Post said that Ms Mizulina graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 2004 with degrees in art history and Indonesian language.
She worked as a translator for official Russian delegations visiting China before joining the Safe Internet League in 2017.
“First, we will clean Ukraine from the Nazis… and then we will get to Google and Wikipedia,” she reportedly said in a speech in 2022.
A year after the Ukraine war started, the Independent reported that Mr Putin is secretly spending millions on Ms Kabaeva. The report further said that the former Olympics champion resides in a villa on Mr Putin’s estate on Lake Valdai, about 250 miles (402 kilometres) north-west of Moscow.