EU plans to put Putin’s rumoured girlfriend on sanctions list

Alina Kabaeva likely to join Patriarch Kirill, who supports war in Ukraine, on draft document of travel bans and asset freezes

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The European Union plans to impose sanctions on Alina Kabaeva, long rumoured to be Vladimir Putin's girlfriend, and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church.

Two sources said the EU has proposed sanctions on Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast whose appearance on a draft sanctions list was first reported by Bloomberg. Kirill, a long-serving Kremlin ally who has given his blessing to the war in Ukraine, appears on a draft document seen by the Guardian.