This is the bizarre moment Vladimir Putin’s ‘secret’ girlfriend was questioned about their relationship on live television.

Alina Kabaeva and the Russian war despot have never admitted to being involved, even though they are believed to have at least two children together.

There have been persistent rumours about their romantic relationship since 2008, and their royal life at a secret hideaway next to Lake Valdayskoye.

Now, a video has emerged showing the former Olympic gymnast being interviewed about her unnamed partner – and whether she would be able to ‘take a husband away from a family’.

Some 15 years ago, she was interviewed on TV by schoolchildren who asked her if she had met her ‘ideal man’, the Daily Mail reported.

The then 24-year-old giggled in response: ‘I have.’

Another audience member then asks: ‘You said you had a boyfriend? Why aren’t you in a rush to marry him, are you afraid of happiness? Who is he?’

There have been persistent rumours about their romantic relationship since 2008 (Picture: AP)

They are believed to have at least two children together (Picture: AP)

Kabaeva responds: ‘So you have managed to ask this question, well done you. As for being scared of happiness, sometimes I am so happy I am scared to be that happy. Of course, there are some concerns…’

She then describes her partner as ‘a very good man, a great man’, who she loves ‘very much’.

At the time of the interview, Putin was married to first lady Lyudmila Ocheretnaya.

The pair divorced in 2013, with the controversial announcement made on camera for the Russian media.

After being asked whether she would ‘take a husband away from a family’ in the interview, Kabaeva replied: ‘Life is complicated, and speaking about a married man.

‘If there are issues in a family and a man is looking at another woman, and is communicating with another woman and not with his wife, it means the problem has already happened, and there wouldn’t be anything good in this family.’

It is understood that Kabaeva lives as Russia’s ‘First Lady’, enjoying a life of luxury.

‘Comparing Kabaeva to a medieval ruler is absolutely appropriate,’ a recent report by Proekt revealed.

She splits her time between the lavish residence situated between St Petersburg and Moscow, and the penthouse in the Royal Park residential complex in Sochi.

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She was asked if she would ‘take a husband away from a family’.