A SEX scandal has shaken the Kremlin as a high-ranking Putin official has been exposed for utilizing $100 million military aircraft to fly his mistress around Russia.

Maria Shalaeva, 23, posted online that she was flown on a defense ministry Ilyushin-76 plane for a weekend trip to Rostov-on-Don – the location of the Russian armed forces war headquarters.

One independent media outlet has dragged in the name of Putin’s trusted defence minister Andrei Belousov, 66, as the suspected lover. 

He is said to be a known womaniser from earlier email leaks, and his photograph appears on a video she posted. 

It is also clear from one video her lover has grey hair, as does Belousov, who was a Kremlin apparatchik before becoming defence minister. 

Yet there are strong indications that her man – apparently seen in shorts from behind on the plane – could be younger. 

Whether the affair involves Belousov or another senior figure in Russia’s leadership, the revelation has sparked outrage over what is perceived as a security lapse.

As the scandal unfolded today, military sources indicated that the Kremlin “sugar daddy” had been visited at work by the secret services after the mistress’s revelations. 

Shalaeva, from Yekaterinburg, boasted in now-deleted posts – that she was flying to Rostov-on-Don, a city she had visited before with her lover.

The airport, however, is being closed to all but military planes.

The 23-year-old went on to reveal her beloved booked her a manicure appointment in the city.

She posted: “Who’s saying planes don’t fly to Rostov? 

“They do – just not all of them, and not for everyone. Anyway, I flew back to Rostov again. Can’t seem to let it go.”

She said her lover is “a Kremlin man, though, that’s another story. Reliability level is 200%.”

She admits to bringing her three-year-old son Tim on the trip, leading to speculation he is her lover’s offspring. 

“At three years old, he’s already flown in a military aircraft,” she posted. 

“Tim got to sit right in the cockpit and even grabbed some crisps from the pilot.

“We were greeted warmly. Timmy was chilling, watching cartoons the whole ride.”

Shalaeva says her lover calls her “yebobo [crazy]” and sometimes asks if she’s ever had a concussion.

She insisted he was “not military!! Not FSB either! Now, I know who he is, but I’m not allowed to say.”

Belousov, an economist and civilian technocrat, is not a career soldier and holds no formal military rank – but his authority rivals that of Russia’s top generals.

In Rostov, Shalaeva, her son, and her mystery man were reportedly picked up by a “very expensive foreign car,” rumoured to be a Maybach.

Nexta independent media – a respected outlet originally from Belarus and now Warsaw-based – linked her to Belousov, but without giving any verification. 

“In private posts, Shalaeva hints that it’s Belousov himself, the new defence minister of the Russian Federation [who is her lover],” stated Nexta. 

“The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation flies his mistress on a military plane.”

It was local media in Rostov that first flagged the scandal, without naming names.

Russian outlets have so far avoided identifying the man.

Retire Major General Vladimir Popov didn’t mince words: “Everyone will be found and punished.”

He made it clear Belousov bears ultimate responsibility for the military flight.

“If this reaches the defence minister, I expect he’ll come down hard for such poor oversight. And from there, the punishment will trickle down.”

Pro-Kremlin military blogger Andrey Medvedev added: “It seems the Military Counterintelligence Department has plenty to do.”

“I can imagine how much information the SBU [Ukrainian security service] and Western intelligence agencies get just from monitoring social networks,” he wrote.

“In a photo posted by this reckless girl, you can find all sorts of interesting details to understand which planes fly to Rostov, who arranged those rides for her. And so on.” 

It comes as the Kremlin was accused of covering up the death of a sacked Russian minister after signs of torture were allegedly found on his body just 24 hours before his apparent suicide.

Roman Starovoit, who was Vladimir Putin’s transport minister for less than a year, was dismissed from his post on July 7 – just hours before he was found dead.

Telegram channels with links to the Russian security forces reported Starovoit’s cause of death as suicide – claiming the minister was found dead with gunshot wounds.

However, an independent Russian media outlet now reports that he had been beaten before his death.

News outlet SOTA claims that signs of torture were visible on his body.

Starovoit’s glam girlfriend could also be banned from his funeral.