In a suspected effort to evade penalties, the name and photo of Putin’s ‘girlfriend’ have been erased from the website of the media empire she runs

The name and image of Vladimir Putin’s ‘girlfriend’ have removed from the website of the media empire she oversees.

Alina Kabaeva, 38, was a senior member of the National Media Group’s (NMG) Board of Directors but has since vanished under worries of Western sanctions.

It comes as sanctions on Putin’s daughters are likely, and it comes after jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny demanded Western action against the Kremlin’s formidable ‘propaganda media.’

He singled out Kabaeva’s TV and newspaper organisation, claiming that Putin personally owned it. Her annual income is reported to be close to £8 million.

‘I want to remind you that the National Media Group, which owns the lion’s share of this infrastructure of falsehoods, surely belongs to Putin personally, and as such is even technically managed by Putin’s mistress Alina Kabaeva,’ Navalny wrote from jail.

NMG provided no explanation for this week’s removal of Kabaeva’s name and image, in which she posed in a business jacket, as well as the remainder of the directors’ section of the website.

Despite having no prior media or business expertise, she has served as chairman of the board since 2014.

‘The most severe steps must be made to make these Goebbels’ successors’ job more difficult, from a full prohibition on the supply and maintenance of equipment to the hunt for their assets in the West and visa ‘black lists,’ Navalny added.

The influence of official and privately owned pro-Kremlin media is considered as critical in Putin’s war support.

‘Warmongers should be punished as war criminals,’ says one expert.

Kabaeva has kept a quiet profile in the battle, but her media has been outspoken in its support for Putin.

She had already disregarded the march towards conflict when she was captured on film partying in Moscow in December.

There have been rumours that she and her alleged hidden family with the Kremlin strongman have been sheltering in Switzerland or one of many high-security bunkers in the Urals, Arctic, or Siberia.

A petition asking that she be deported by Swiss authorities has collected 75,000 signatures, with the demand that ‘it’s time you reconnect Eva Braun with her Führer.’

‘Propagandists build a public perception that not only permits Putin to commit war crimes, but demands them,’ Navalny stated.