Olympic gymnast-turned-lawmaker to head pro-Kremlin media holding

Alina Kabayeva, the Olympic gymnast-turned-State Duma deputy, is to chair the board of directors of National Media Group, one of Russia’s largest pro-Kremlin media conglomerates, after resigning from her six-year stint as a lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party.

National Media Group, owned by billionaire Yury Kovalchuk, controls some of Russia’s most influential pro-Kremlin TV and radio stations, including Channel One, REN TV and Izvestia, all of which serve as platforms for biting critiques of the west and dissident Russians. Following the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 earlier this year, Kovalchuk was sanctioned by the EU and blacklisted by the US for his closeness to President Vladimir Putin.

Rumours of a romantic relationship between Putin and Kabayeva have made headlines over the last few years, with the president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denying claims last September that the pair had secretly married following his divorce from his wife Lyudmila. Moskovsky Korrespondent, a Russian newspaper owned by Alexander Lebedev, was closed down in 2008 after claiming that Putin might marry Kabayeva, although its editor cited financial reasons for the closure.

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