First images have emerged of Vladimir Putin's alleged secret 10-year-old son Ivan, released by a Russian anti-Kremlin Telegram channel with links to law enforcement and secret services.
The boy, who has been hidden from ordinary Russians, is reportedly the son of the Moscow dictator and his long-time partner, gymnast Alina Kabaeva, 41.
According to the VChK-OGPU channel, the child resembles Putin in his Soviet childhood.
"VChK-OGPU has obtained a photo of the most secret and probably the loneliest boy in Russia," the channel reported.
Russian retired rhytmic gymnast and politican Alina Kabaeva attends a reception at the Bocharov Ruchey state residence
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The boy "hardly communicates with other children, spending all his time with guards, governesses, and teachers".
Ivan also has a younger brother, Vladimir Junior, now four years old, who was not pictured in the released images.
The children reportedly live out of sight behind Putin's high-security palace walls.
Putin has never confirmed the young family he has with Olympic Gold-medal winning Kabaeva, who is three decades his junior.
However, in an unguarded moment five months ago, he referred to watching fairy tale films with "my little ones".
During a televised question and answer session, Putin said: "Our historic fairy tales and epic tales are being revived. I myself sometimes watch these with pleasure with my little ones."
A flicker of a smile appeared on his face as he mentioned them.
While the Kremlin has always denied a relationship between Putin and Kabaeva, independent Russian journalists have established they have two sons together.
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Ivan is said to be the son of the Moscow dictator and his long-time partner Alina Kabaeva, 41
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According to Dossier Centre, the boys have had British and New Zealand citizens as governesses in the past.
Due to Putin's war, the Russian ruler now recruits South Africans to teach English to his heirs.
"The brothers have little contact with their peers and see little of their parents, but they appreciate the rare moments they manage to spend with their father," reported Dossier Centre.
Putin is also known to have grandchildren from his two eldest daughters - Maria Vorontsova, 39, and Katerina Tikhonova, 38, described as a "rock'n'roll" dancer.
The Russian leader has another secret daughter, Ekaterina Krivonogikh - also known as Luiza Rozova.
She was born to his former mistress, Svetlana Krivonogikh, 49, who reportedly transformed from a cleaner to a £75million multimillionaire.
Luiza is known to have lived in Paris during the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir PutinREUTERSKabaeva once posed almost nude for Maxim magazine in Russia and was described as "full of sex" by a photographer.
Earlier, after a doping scandal in 2001, she appeared in photos naked but for strategically-placed lilacs.
On a Russian children's show, when asked if she had met her "ideal man," she replied giggling: "I have."
She described him as "a very good man, a great man" adding: "I love him very much."
Kabaeva confessed: "Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared."
The pictures were published by VChK-OGPU shortly after its main channel was deleted this month on Telegram, in what appears to be a move by Putin authorities.
The revelations are likely to infuriate Putin, who has kept his sons hidden from public view.
"I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected," Putin once stated in an interview.
He has previously deplored "those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives".
