Vladimir Putin’s young sons have been groomed to become “educated Europeans” by a slew of Western nannies hired to take care of the boys at a heavily guarded compound.
That’s according to a new report by Systema, the Russian investigative unit of Radio Free Liberty, which cited personal correspondence and internal documents it obtained to reveal the bizarre conditions in which the boys are being raised.
At least 20 foreign citizens, many of them from the same NATO countries Putin has raged against, have reportedly been hired over the past eight years to help raise Vladimir Jr., born in 2019, and Ivan, born in 2015.
The Kremlin has never publicly acknowledged their existence, which was first reported by a Swiss newspaper in 2022 and later confirmed by the investigative outlet Dossier Center.
The boys are the product of 73-year-old Putin’s controversial affair and subsequent romance with former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, now 43 and the head coach of rhythmic gymnastics in Russia. (The two were said to be involved for years before Putin announced his divorce from his longtime wife, Lyudmila, in 2013.)
Internal correspondence now uncovered by Systema reveals that the pair’s two boys live in almost complete isolation at the “family compound,” Putin’s heavily guarded residence in Valdai.
Nannies and tutors hired to look after them are required to undergo a medical exam, avoid wearing any strong perfumes, and keep the whole arrangement completely secret, according to the report, which also notes that the employees were never actually told they were working for the Russian president. Officially, they were on the payroll of a Russian company where they were listed as translators.
Conditions at the compound where they work are described as incredibly strict, with an emphasis on hygiene—nannies were at one point scolded for walking around barefoot, as it was deemed “unhygienic,” and a full-on investigation was reportedly launched in 2018 over concerns that one employee was not adhering to proper hygiene.
The work also reportedly requires pages upon pages of reports from the nannies detailing what activities they did each day with the boys, complete with photos and illustrations.
One contract reviewed by Systema revealed the bizarre handling of “sexual relations and sex education” for the boys in light of Putin’s well-documented disgust towards anything seen as “nontraditional.”
“Perhaps it makes sense to point out that the ‘Ward’ is a boy, and in role-playing games he can only be given male names and given only male roles,” the employee was told.
“Under no circumstances should you discuss LGBT-related topics,” the contract reportedly warned.
One Irish-Canadian nanny was hired for Putin’s two sons even as the Kremlin claimed the “collective West” and the “Anglo-Saxons” were bent on destroying Russia after it launched its war against Ukraine in 2022.
The nanny, identified only as Jane, described living in “quarantine conditions” that prevented employees from leaving the compound on their own. Another British English teacher, Harry, asked for unpaid leave in 2023 due to “burnout from living in quarantine.”
And one of the newest hires, a South African nanny named Carol, abruptly resigned earlier this month without apparently giving any reason. She was one of three foreign nannies employed for the boys as of January 2026.
Another former employee who was tracked down told Systema she was never told who she was working for, saying: “I was simply a person receiving commands and orders.”
