THE SUN
PARANOID Vladimir Putin has introduced a vast no-go zone around his secret forest palace where his gymnast lover reportedly lives.
The Russian tyrant’s luxury bolthole on the edge of Lake Valdai is a sprawling estate boasting a palatial main residence, guesthouses, a golf course and a massive spa complex.
Putin’s gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva, 39, is said to live in the lavish hideaway – hidden from public view by thick tree cover – with the pair’s young children.
And a vast new exclusion zone – larger than the Isle of Wight and the Mediterranean island of Malta – has now been enforced around the residence.
A swathe of Valdai National Park has become a no-go zone amid Putin’s fury over the exposé of the tyrant’s secret life with Kabaeva – revealing the £100million mansion she is alleged to live in with their kids.
According to Meduza, part of the area around the estate has now been turned into a “specially protected natural area” – banning the public from stepping foot in the zone for hunting or fishing.
Lake Valdai is divided in two by a collection of islands in the middle – and the half nearest to Putin’s shoreside palace has been shut off to visitors.
Guarded by a federal security service, trespassers on the complex and exclusion zone face two years “correctional labour” and fines of up to £5,300.
Under the new no-go zone, visitors can no longer access part of the lake near the Iversky monastery – located on an island popular with tourists and pilgrims.
“Now half of Valdai is completely closed to boats and vacationers, according to the official version — because of the poor ecological condition,” the Meduza report said.
