how putin removed wedding ring while watching the ballet and emerged with his wife to announce their...

7/28/2019 How Putin removed wedding ring while watching the ballet and emerged with his wife to announce their divorce

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How Putin removed wedding ring while watching

the ballet and emerged with his wife to announce

their divorce on live TV

Putin, 60, and 55-year-old wife announce that their 29-year marriage is over

President and wife Lyudmila reveal split in interview after night at the ballet

Pair are 'eternally close' and support each other through 'civilised divorce'

Interview didn't mention Putin's alleged gymnast lover, Alina Kabayeva, 30

By ANNA EDWARDS

PUBLISHED: 18:31 GMT, 6 June 2013 | UPDATED: 18:35 GMT, 7 June 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced

his 29-year marriage to his his wife, Lyudmila, was over - after removing his wedding band as

they watched the ballet together.

The 60-year-old and his 55-year-old wife broke the news of the end of the 29-year marriage in

an obviously staged TV interview after a night at the ballet.Before the ballet at the Kremlin Palace, Putin was pictured wearing his wedding ring, but he

must have removed it during the performance because he was not wearing it by the time he left

and was interviewed.Scroll down for video
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila share a smile in happier times in 2008


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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and his wife Lyudmila, seen in March last year


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Object1

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that the Putins no longer lived

together, the 60-year-old Putin said: 'That is true.'

Lyudmila Putin said it had been a 'our common decision. And our marriage is over due to the

fact that we barely see each other.'

Asked whether they were divorced, Lyudmila said it was a 'civilised divorce'.

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But neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin's spokesman, Dmitry

Peskov, said he did not know.

The obviously staged interview made no mention of Alina Kabayeva, a 30-year-old formergymnast who is rumoured to have been Putin's mistress for years.
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Alina Kabayeva, 30, Putin's rumoured mistress, has appeared at the Olympics twice and done

modelling work


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The former gymnast, seen performing during the 2004 Athens Olympics, is alleged to be

Putin's mistress


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Rumours about an affair between the Russian president and Miss Kabayeva have dogged them

for years

Miss Kabayeva, who is alleged to have given birth to Putin's lovechild, is now a politician after

retiring from a glittering career in gymnastics in which she represented her country at the

Olympics twice.Rumours about Putin's alleged affair with Miss Kabayeva first surfaced five years ago when a

Russian newspaper owned by the oligarch Alexander Lebedev reported that Putin wanted to

marry his gymnast mistress.

Putin angrily denied the story, and the newspaper was closed down shortly afterwards, which

many attributed to Putin's rage. Further stories later emerged claiming that Miss Kabayeva had

had a baby by the president, but both sides denied them.

Mr and Mrs Putin had last been seen in public together at Putin's inauguration to his third

presidential term on May 7, 2012.

Married just a few weeks short of 30 years, the Putins announced the decision on state

television after attending a ballet performance Thursday evening in the Kremlin.


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In April speculation was mounting as to why the first lady of Russia was rarely seen by his side


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Lyudmila Putin said that the split had been a 'our common decision. And our marriage is over

due to the fact that we barely see each other'

His wife has rarely been seen in public during her husband's long tenure at the top of Russian

politics.

'I don't like publicity and flying is difficult for me,' she said.In the televised announcement of their divorce, Putin appeared reserved and Lyudmila smiled

tentatively.

'We practically never saw each other. To each his own life,' Putin said.

Lyudmila Putin said, 'We will eternally be very close people. I'm thankful ... that he supports

me.'

There were no immediate indications of how the move would be perceived by the public.

Divorce is common in Russia, and nearly 700,000 pairs dissolved their marriages in 2009,

according to UNICEF.


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Russian President Vladimir Putin greets British Prime Minister Tony Blair as his wife

Lyudmila greets Blair's wife Cherie at the start of the G8 summit in St Petersburg in 2006


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Unfounded - and vehemently denied - rumours suggested that the president had conducted

affairs with other women

Russian leaders, unlike their counterparts in the West, generally keep their personal lives well


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out of public view. Mikhail Gorbachev's wife Raisa raised many Russians' hackles by hervisibility, flair for fashionable dress and forthright comments.

But Putin also has made a point of supporting traditional social values and appearing at holiday

masses of the Orthodox Church.

The church permits divorce under some circumstances; it is not clear if the Putins sought

pastoral advice or permission before the split.

The pair, who married in 1983 and have two daughters, recently attracted attention after theywere never seen in public together.


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Russia's First Lady Lyudmila Putin met her British counterpart Cherie Blair in July, 2006


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Seen here with Laura Bush, U.S. President George W. Bush and her now ex-husband Vladimir

Putin, Lyudmila has rarely been seen in public during her husband's long tenure at the top of

Russian politics

An official family portrait has been issued, and photographs of their daughters Maria, 27, and

Yekaterina, 26, have never been printed by the Russian media.

In April speculation was mounting as to why the first lady of Russia was rarely seen by the

president's side.

Unfounded rumours suggested the president had an affair with spy-turned-lingerie model Anna

Chapman, which has been strongly denied, was behind the former Aeroflot-hostess'

disappearance from public view.

In October 2010 the Putins tried to quell rumours they had divorced by posing for pictures as

they jointly answered questions for the national census.

The high-profile politician has been a constant fixture in leading the country.

He was re-elected to to the role of President in May last year, and he previously held the post

from 2000 to 2008.

In between his these offices, he was Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again

from 2008 to 2012.


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The Russian office of first lady demands the attendance of many official ceremonies andfunctions of state - either by the side of the president or to represent him.

Russia heavily frowns upon the First Lady holding outside employment while occupying the

office.

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