Alina Kabayeva

Alina Kabayeva’s Russian Vogue cover is turning heads around the globe this week because of her status as Vladimir Putin’s alleged mistress.This story is making politics in the US sound all the more dull and monotonous: the supposed mistress of the Prime Minister landing on the cover of one of the country’s most prominent fashion mags? Now that’s good stuff.

The decision to put her on the cover was apparently made by editor-in-chief Viktoria Davydova. The cover features Kabayeva, a professional gymnast and Olympic Gold medalist, wearing a Balmain dress worth more than $30,000. The Daily Mail reports that the dress has already been featured on the cover of a few other fashion mags—a big “no, no” in the biz.

Nonetheless, she stands smiling with her hands on her hips, confident and poised.

But the cover pic itself is likely to become a periphery issue. After all, Kabayeva is rumored to not only have been Putin’s mistress, but also the mother of his ‘love child.’ A few years ago a Russian newspaper reported that a mysterious wedding had been planned between the two. It wouldn’t be long before the newspaper was shut down and no longer being published. Coincidence?

Perhaps another strange coincidence was Alina Kabayeva’s quick rise to prominence as a MP in the Prime Minister’s United Russia Party. Hrmmm.

Either way, the cover will likely be splashed across websites and television screens around the world, drawing both ire and criticism as people try to make sense of the alleged scandal.