Russia's Putin says marriage over

Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, attend a service to mark the start of his term as Russia's...
Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, attend a service to mark the start of his term as Russia's new president at the Kremlin in Moscow in this May 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Pool/Files

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, have said on state television that they have separated and their marriage is over after 30 years.

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that they no longer lived together, the 60-year-old Putin said: "That is true."

Lyudmila Putin, 55, said it had been "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". But neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know.

The couple had last been seen in public together at Putin's inauguration to his third presidential term on May 7, 2012.

They married in 1983 and have two daughters, both in their 20s.

 

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