After nearly 30 years of marriage, Russian president Vladimir Putin and wife Lyudmila are getting a divorce, the couple announced on state television.
The two had made a rare appearance together at the Kremlin to see a performance of the Esmeralda ballet. During an interview with Rossiya 24 after the show, the couple said that they are calling it quits, citing the demands of Presidential life, notes Bloomberg.
“All my activity, my work is public, absolutely public,” Putin said. “Someone may like it, someone may not. But there are people who are totally incompatible with this.”
Lyudmila added that, “We virtually never see each other.”
According to The BBC, Lyudmila, 55, has been rarely seen by the Russian public, which sparked speculation in the Russian media that the couple were estranged. They married in 1983 and have two children, Maria and Yekaterina, who are in their 20s.
The interview was the first time the public say them together since May 2012, when Putin, 60, was inaugurated for his third term as President.
“Our children have grown up; they have their own lives,” Lyudmila said during the interview. She said that the divorce will be “civilized” and they will “always remain close.”
RT.com reports that Putin, who rarely discusses his private life in public, is the first Russian president to divorce while stil lholding the office. That’s in stark contrast to the country’s high rate of divorce.
image: WikiMedia Commons
