Billions left over after the construction of “Putin’s palace” were transferred to Putin’s mistress Alina Kabaeva, ACF reports

The late Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) has published a new investigation tracing the fate of funds left over after the completion of “Putin’s palace” in 2023. According to the authors, 6.5 billion rubles ($84.4 million) in an account belonging to the company Investment Solutions were transferred to Alina Kabaeva, the unofficial mother of two of Putin’s unofficial children. The nominal shareholders of Investment Solutions are former university classmates of Putin’s.

Two of the transfers occurred on Apr. 4, 2023, when Investment Solutions donated 500 million rubles ($6.5 million) to the Alina Kabaeva Charity Foundation, and on Nov. 1, when the firm moved another 2.5 billion rubles ($32.5 million). An additional 3.5 billion rubles ($45.4 million) from Investment Solutions later went to Kabaeva’s “Heavenly Grace” foundation.

As the ACF notes, the Alina Kabaeva Charity Foundation does indeed provide support to gymnasts, but only 3.5 million rubles ($45,400) were spent on this purpose — 1% of the funds received. In contrast, 31 million rubles ($402,600) were allocated to the reconstruction of a church in Crimea. The foundation also spent 260 million rubles ($3.4 million) on the Alina Rhythmic Gymnastics Festival. Kabaeva’s “Heavenly Grace” foundation, which has received even more money left over from the “palace project,” spent nearly 500 million rubles ($6.5 million) on the eponymous gymnastics tournament.