RICHARD JOHNSON: Putin’s rumored lover can be seen on Russian TV

Alina Kabaeva, the unofficial wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin and mother to five of his children, has suddenly disappeared — though she’s starring on Russian TV.

The former Olympic rhythmic gymnast champion was head of National Media Group, which is reportedly the largest private Russian media company, and getting paid $10 million a year when she vanished from databases, the Odessa Journal reports.

Kabaeva was first sanctioned by the United Kingdom last month. Then, Canada followed suit.

The U.S. has held off adding Kabaeva to its list of sanctioned individuals for fear it would escalate tensions, the Wall Street Journal reported.

But Russian state TV is airing an extravagant “Alina Festival” anchored by the Olympic champ to mark the International Day for the Protection of Children.

Hundreds of young gymnasts were shown doing gravity-defying routines dressed in vintage Soviet-style athletic gear.

Another bizarre scene showed rhythmic gymnasts dancing as a military choir belted out a World War II-era song about a “holy patriotic war.”

Kabaeva and her kids with Putin are believed to have Swiss passports under assumed names. “They are said to be in Turkey,” said one Russian source.

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Southampton restaurateur Zach Erdem — of 75 Main and star of the new Discovery+ reality show, “Serving the Hamptons” — was driving up Madison Ave. when he spotted himself in a huge ad for the show on a bus.

“I stopped my car at a red light and thought it would take just a second for my friend to take a photo of me in front of the ad,” he told Hampton Sheet publisher Joan Jedell.

“But then another person jumped out of another car to catch a photo with me and this was causing a traffic jam.”

The bus driver started yelling at Zach to get away from his bus, but when he recognized Zach, he, too, wanted a photo with him which was taken from the driver’s window.

“Just another unexpected New York moment, giving new meaning to ‘getting shot,’” said Jedell.

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Awkward exchanges abounded at the inaugural World Expression Forum in Lillehammer, Norway, this week.

Media expert Victor Pickard, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, canceled former President Donald Trump.

“I did have a slide of Donald Trump but I pulled it out because I thought I would spare you,” he told the audience, adding, “We’ve all been abused enough.”

Separately, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former prime minister of Denmark and now co-chair of the Facebook Oversight Board, had a problem with Nobel Peace Prize-winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa.

Ressa described the oversight board, the independent body set up by Mark Zuckerberg to moderate Facebook, as a “deflection” and a “whitewash.” Thorning-Schmidt wasn’t happy.

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Peggy Siegal, once one of the biggest movie publicists, has been on ice since the downfall of her pals Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.

But Siegal turned up at Ambroeus in Southampton on Sunday night with socialite Mercedes Bass.

Siegal brought up the four-part Netflix documentary “Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich” and said, “I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

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Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this week, marking 70 years on the throne, but things would have turned out differently if the Prince of Wales, aka the Duke of Windsor, hadn’t abdicated the throne for “the woman I love.”

The duke married notorious American divorcee Wallis Simpson, the forerunner to Meghan Markle, 85 years ago in France.

The former King of England gave Simpson what was called “the alternative Crown Jewels” that brought in over $53 million when the baubles were auctioned off in 1987. Elizabeth Taylor even bought one of her diamond pins.

Now antique store M.S. Rau in New Orleans is selling an emerald and tourmaline brooch owned by the Duchess of Windsor for $388,500 and a pair of cufflinks owned by the Duke for $88,500.

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The Rev. Al Sharpton, looking slim in a beige suit and tie, was asked about the possibility of gun control legislation as he dined at Blu Mar in Southampton after Jason Binn’s DuJour magazine party at the restaurant.

“My contacts say there’s a 50-50 chance this time,” Sharpton said.

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Rick Friedman’s Hamptons Fine Art Fair, running July 14-17 at the Southampton Fairgrounds, will feature works by Renoir, Warhol, street artist Mr. Brainwash and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The opening will have a Francophile theme including musical performances by French singer Chloe Perrier, and the French Heart Jazz Band.