An investigation by the non-profit investigative portal Dossier Center revealed on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin has two sons, Ivan Putin and Vladimir Putin Jr., with his alleged long-term partner, Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

The sons live in isolation and under the protection of the Federal Protection Service (FSO) in various private residences. According to the Dossier Center, they are accompanied 24 hours a day by nannies, private tutors and professional sports coaches. The children also travel around in armored trains, private jets and helicopters.

An agency regularly looks for tutors for the boys, according to Dossier. The portal contains a screenshot of a job advertisement published in February 2024 for an English teacher for boys aged four and eight. The conditions included accommodation, a five-day week and a salary of 7,700 euros a month. However, it was pointed out that the family was strictly forbidden from leaving their place of residence.

A source close to the Putin family told Dossier that the family is very selective in choosing the nationalities of its employees, preferring countries that are considered pro-Russian, with South Africa often playing a role.

The source added that the Putins are constantly looking for new teachers because “it is not so easy to get along with the family.” Dossier found citizens of South Africa, New Zealand and Britain among the private tutors employed by the family.

The children also have personal swimming and gymnastics coaches; Ivan is coached by a former member of the Russian national gymnastics team, whose name was not disclosed.

Ivan and Vladimir, born in spring 2015 and 2019 respectively, were born in different places: Ivan was born at the Sant’Anna clinic in Lugano, Switzerland, and Vladimir in Moscow. However, according to the dossier, they were delivered by the same gynecologist, Natalya Thiebaud.

Olesya Fedina, Kabaeva’s cousin, introduces herself to outsiders as the boys’ mother and personally meets with potential tutors. Kabaeva herself tries to keep the children’s sporting achievements secret and watches them from an opaque glass box, but cannot always hide her presence.

“For example, if the eldest son plays hockey or takes part in a performance and Olesya Fedina is watching, after the game or show the child does not run to her, but to a box hidden behind opaque glass, where the real mother sits,” Dossier wrote, citing a source from the service staff.

The family has a regular daily routine: the children spend most of the year in Vladimir Putin’s residence in Valdai in Russia’s Novgorod region. In February and March of each year they go skiing in Sochi, while they spend July and August on the family yachts in the Gulf of Finland and the Black Sea.