Russia's
Vladimir Putin and wife Lyudmila divorce
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22809451
7 June 2013 Last updated at 00:48 GMT
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila have
said their marriage is over.
The couple, who had been married for 30 years, made their
divorce public on Russian state television after attending a ballet
performance.
"It was a joint decision: we hardly see each other,
each of us has our own life", Mr Putin said.
Steve Rosenberg reports.
Russia's
Vladimir Putin and wife Lyudmila divorce
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22806866
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila have
said their marriage is over.
The couple, who had been married for 30 years, made their
divorce public on Russian state television after attending a ballet
performance.
"It was a joint decision: we hardly see each other,
each of us has our own life", Mr Putin said.
Mrs Putin had rarely been seen in public in recent months,
prompting much speculation in Russian media.
She is known to dislike publicity, and told the TV reporter
that flying was difficult for her. "Vladimir Vladimirovich is completely
drowned in work," she said.
The divorce was "civilised" and the couple would
"always remain close", she said.
"I am very grateful to Vladimir... that he still supports me. And
the children, he really cares for them and the children feel this," she
added.
Mr Putin confirmed on TV that the two were no longer living
together.
"We are always going to be very close to each other. I
am sure, forever," he said.
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva were married in 1983.
They have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, both in their 20s.
"Our children have grown up; they have their own
lives," Mrs Putin added.
She and Mr Putin were last seen together at his inauguration
for his third term as president on 7 May 2012.
Remarriage?
Neither clarified whether or not their marriage had been
legally dissolved, but Mrs Putin referred to the separation as a
"civilised divorce".
The couple had been seen less frequently in public in recent
months
The announcement came after the couple had gone to see the
ballet Esmeralda at the Kremlin
Palace - they left after
the first act.
The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says that Thursday's announcement
confirms what had been rumoured for years, that the Putins were having marital
problems.
But the news has still come as a shock to many Russians, who
are not used to their leaders getting divorced - even though Russia has one
of the highest divorce rates in the world, our correspondent adds.
The question already dominating the Russian blogosphere is,
"will Russia's
president marry again?", he says.
The Putins' marriage had been the subject of speculation
before.
In 2008, Mr Putin denied rumours that he had secretly
divorced and was planning to marry former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva.
'Looking so happy' - Russians react to Putin divorce
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22811510
News that President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila are
divorcing has dominated social media in Russia.
Profile: Vladimir Putin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15047823
Putin the man
Born 7 October 1952
in Leningrad (now St Petersburg)
Studied law and
economics before joining the KGB
Served as KGB agent
in East Germany 1985-90
Married, two
daughters
Speaks German and English
Sound bite: "I'd
like the Russian public to see me as the person they've hired for this
job"in in power
Putin in power
2000: Putin elected
president in first round; Kursk
submarine disaster; restoration of Soviet national anthem with different words
2003: General
election gives Putin allies control over parliament
2004: Putin
re-elected by landslide in February; a year of Chechen attacks on civilian
targets culminates in Beslan
2005: Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, Russia's
richest man, jailed for tax evasion 2006: Russia
briefly cuts gas supplies to Ukraine
in January; St Petersburg
hosts G8 events
2007: Putin likens US foreign policy to Nazi Germany's and
threatens to target missiles at EU states in response to US anti-missile
plans
2008: Putin becomes
prime minister after his protege Dmitry Medvedev's landslide win in March
presidential election
2011: Putin announces
he will stand for president again in 2012, with Medvedev as his prime minister
2012: Wins a third
term as presidentn and English
The Putins Announce They're Getting Divorced
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/the-putins-announce-theyre-getting-divorced/481293.html
President Vladimir Putin appeared with his rarely seen wife
Lyudmila in a TV interview on Thursday night to announce that after almost 30
years of marriage, they had decided to get divorced.
"It was a mutual decision," the president said on
state-run Russia
24 television.
The surprise announcement came after years of speculation
over the first couple's obscure relationship. Unlike many other world leaders
and their wives, the pair barely ever traveled or even appeared in public
together.
In the apparently planned but unscripted interview Thursday
evening, Putin and his wife stood by themselves in the lobby of a Kremlin
performance hall after watching the first act of a ballet together—a
performance of “La Esmeralda,” based on Victor Hugo’s novel “The Hunchback of
Notre Dame”— and spoke to an off-camera interviewer for a total of about three
minutes.
After the interviewer asked them their opinion of the
ballet, she asked them about “rumors that they didn’t live together.”
“Is that true?” the interviewer asked.
After inhaling, Putin said: “It is.”
“All my work is connected to being public. To being
absolutely public. Some people like that, others don’t. But there are some
people for whom that is completely incompatible,” Putin said, gesturing to
Lyudmila.
“It truly was a mutual decision,” Lyudmila Putina said. “Our
marriage is over, since we practically never see each other.”
“Our kids are grown up and each lives her own life. Things
worked out such that each of us has his own life. I truly don’t like being
public, and flights are difficult for me. We practically never see each other.”
Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, was terse with
reporters on the news after the interview aired, saying the president’s
personal life “affects him only.”
“He never made it public property,” Peskov said, according
to Komsomolskaya Pravda. “That’s his principle, he has earned that right, and
let’s treat it with respect.”
“It’s no secret and everyone knows that he long ago devoted
himself to the country, as pretentious as that may sound,” Peskov told
LifeNews.
Peskov also said that the Putins had still not formalized
the divorce.
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva were married in 1983.
From the very beginning of Putin’s first presidency, his wife stayed out of the
public eye, much to the frustration of a public used to the charismatic wives
of former leaders Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev. In May 2000, five months
after former President Boris Yeltsin named Putin his successor, Lyudmila had
appeared in public less than half-a-dozen times and did not speak once.
He even quipped about her absence on a trip to Britain in April 2000, joking about U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair having brought
his wife to St. Petersburg.
"[Blair] brought his spouse over here, whereas I am
taking key ministers to London,"
Putin said.
Rumors regarding their marriage and Lyudmila Putina’s place
of residence have swirled ever since.
In Thursday’s brief interview, Putin made a point of saying
that the couple’s two daughters, Yekaterina and Maria, who are also barely ever
glimpsed in public, live in Russia, contrary to occasional news reports and
speculation that they live abroad with foreign boyfriends or husbands.
“Speaking about our children, we really love them, are very
proud of them,” Putin said. “By the way, they got their education in Russia and live in Russia full-time. And Lyudmila
Alexandrovna and I will remain close.”
Putin rarely answers questions about his relationship with
his wife or about his children, telling reporters to leave them alone. The
president has typically appeared in public with Lyudmila Putina a few times a
year. They voted together last year when Putin was elected to a third term as
president, and they answered census questions as a couple in 2010, sitting on a
couch in matching beige outfits with Putin’s black Labrador, Koni.
Lyudmila Putina’s name also has appeared annually on the
president’s income declaration, as is required by law. In 2011, she said she
earned 443,000 rubles ($15,000), or about one-tenth her husband’s declared
earnings. In Thursday’s interview, she said she was grateful that Putin
continued to “support” her. It was unclear whether she meant financially or
otherwise.
Tabloids have for years assumed that the couple was de facto
split up and have linked Putin romantically to former gymnast and current State
Duma Deputy from United Russia Alina Kabayeva.
In May 2009, newspapers reported that she had had a baby and
suggested that Putin could be the father. Kabayeva denied the story, saying she
wasn’t even pregnant. A few days after the reports, which Putin responded to by
criticizing the reporters for having “snotty noses and erotic fantasies,” Putin
was photographed with Lyudmila in a highly publicized appearance with Russian
Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill.
Putina grew up in Kaliningrad.
She was 21 and working as a stewardess when she met Putin on a blind date
during a three-day trip to Leningrad.
They dated for about three years before marrying. During that time, Lyudmila
gave up her job and enrolled in Leningrad
State University,
eventually earning a graduate degree in modern languages.
After the couple married in 1983, they moved to Dresden in 1985, in what was then East Germany.
Their first daughter, Maria, was born the same year, and Yekaterina was born a
year later.
A Look at the Putins Over the Years (Photos)
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/a-look-at-the-putins-over-the-years-photos/481295.html