Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly holding a gymnastic competition for his rumored mistress, gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

The "Alina Competition", which is being broadcasted by pro-Kremlin TV channel Russia-1, seems to be a patriotic occasion filled with nostalgia for the time of the Soviet Union. Tons of of younger youngsters and gymnasts are acting on stage in choreography filled with grandeur, as a few of the Soviet Union's most patriotic songs are sung by Russian singers.

"This gymnastics competition that's beginning in the present day in Russia appears to be crammed filled with Putin's favourite issues, together with an overabundance of Soviet nostalgia and his rumored mistress Alina Kabaeva, in whose honor this competition was named," wrote Every day Beast journalist Julia Davis on Twitter sharing a clip of the competition from Russia-1.

The competition seems to be the second held this yr in honor of Kabaeva. In a earlier occasion in late April, Kabaeva herself attended the occasion, in accordance with stories from Western media.

Sporting a black and orange St George's ribbon commemorating the veterans of the Japanese Entrance throughout World Warfare II, Kabaeva then appeared standing in entrance of the digital camera with a background crammed with black and orange striped Z, the letter that has grow to be an emblem of help for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Talking at Moscow's VTB Enviornment in the course of the "Alina Competition" in April, the 38-year-old girl, identified in Russia because the "first woman within the shadows," praised the Russian army and appeared to hyperlink the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World Warfare II to the present occasions in Ukraine.

Kabaeva, who's rumored to have had 4 youngsters with the Russian president, not often seems on Russian tv. Putin has by no means publically acknowledged that he has had any youngsters with Kabaeva, and the Kremlin denied Western stories of Kabaeva giving start to the couple's youngsters in 2015.

Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnastics star
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) fingers flowers to Alina Kabaeva, Russian gymnastics star and Olympic gold medal winner, after awarding her with an Order of Friendship throughout annual award ceremony on the Kremlin June 8, 2001. SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP/Getty Photographs

Kabaeva, an Olympic gold medal winner in rhythmic gymnastics and a former member of the Russian Parliament, was thought to have gone into hiding for the reason that Russian invasion of Ukraine started on February 24. In March, a web based petition was introduced ahead to expel her from her residence in Switzerland.

Kabaeva was initially not included within the checklist of Putin's allies who had been topic to worldwide sanctions after the battle started, however she was added to the U.S. and Britain's sanctions checklist in April.

In early Might, stories stated the European Union had included Kabaeva's identify in a listing of the following individuals near Putin to be added to the bloc's sanctions checklist. Canada added Kabaeva to its sanction checklist the identical week.

Alina Kabaeva
On this picture from 2011, Russian politician and former Olympic Champion, Alina Kabaeva, smiles as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin delivers his speech on the congress of the United Russia Celebration in Moscow, Russia. A competition in her identify began on June 1 in Russia. Sasha Mordovets/Getty Photographs