Who is Putin's girlfriend to be sanctioned by the EU?

Kabaeva is a former Olympic gold medalist, turned politician.

She currently heads a media company that holds stakes in some state media, the EU is partly aimed at its role in spreading Kremlin propaganda, reports say.

The EU does not appoint him as Putin's partner, only they are closely linked. But it has long been said that they are romantically involved, the BBC writes.

Putin denied they were in a relationship when history emerged in 2008.