Putin’s Year Through The Eyes of Lyudmila

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – December 27, 2013) President Vladimir Putin took a novel approach to 2013. His novel of choice this year was Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina.” Tolstoy’s tale of moral dilemmas and human transgressions begins with the famous line, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” ­ an […]

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Denying Putin Wedding, Peskov Says Leave the President Alone

Alina Kabaeva file photo, seated and posturing during gymnatics routine

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrew McChesney – September 25, 2013) People should focus on Vladimir Putin’s work as president and avoid prying into his personal life ­ not that he has one because he is so busy with his Kremlin duties, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Peskov, who made the appeal in a far-ranging interview published Wednesday in Izvestia, […]

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Kremlin Dismisses Putin Church Wedding Rumors

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 22, 2013) ­ Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has categorically dismissed online rumors that the Russian president has remarried in a church ceremony at a secluded monastery in central Russia. A Twitter message that swept through social networks on Saturday claimed that Putin, who divorced in June, tied the knot again earlier in the day at the […]

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Putin says he never married in church, says divorce was mutual decision

File Photo of Russian Orthodox Cathedral with Man in Religious Garb in Foreground

(Interfax – June 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he and his wife Lyudmila Putina never married in church and that their decision to divorce was a mutual one, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 11 June. “We never married in church,” Putin said at a meeting with staff from the RT TV channel (formerly Russia Today). […]

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Russian Public TV denies canceling programme over Putin divorce jokes

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Interfax – Moscow, June 8, 2013) Russian Public TV is not planning to cancel its Social Network programme, the next episode will air on 10 June. The channel’s press service told Interfax on Saturday (8 June) that the 7 June edition of the programme was not aired for technical reasons. “No-one is closing the programme, it will continue to run. […]

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Peskov: There is no other woman in Putin’s life

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 7, 2013) President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has dismissed rumors that Putin will re-marry soon after divorce. “There is no other woman in the president’s life,” he said on Ekho Moskvy radio, noting that one should look at Putin’s busy schedule. “It is easy to understand that his life is in no way connected […]

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About 70% of Russians have no problems with Putin divorce – poll

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 7, 2013) More than two-thirds of Russians don’t believe that the status of a country’s president deprives him or her of the right to divorce, an opinion poll suggests. Asked, “Does the president have the right to divorce, in your opinion?”, 71% of those questioned by the Superjob.ru portal on Friday answered in the affirmative. Every […]

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News of Putins’ Divorce Met With Shrugs

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – June 10, 2013) Ordinary Russians reacted with a mix of compassion, skepticism and indifference to Thursday’s announcement that President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila would divorce after 29 years of marriage, the first time a Russian leader has dissolved his marriage in over three centuries. “Honestly, it’s a circus, it’s funny, […]

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Russians React With Humor To Putin’s Divorce Announcement

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – June 7, 2013) Within hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila announced their divorce on state television on June 6, jokes about their separation became a big hit on social media, particularly on the microblogging site Twitter. RFE/RL’s Central Newsroom has compiled a selection of some of the more notable tweets and comments. […]

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Putin’s spokesman Peskov calls for treating president’s life with respect

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 7, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov has called for treating the president’s private life with respect and not intruding into it. Peskov refrained from answering Interfax how Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin’s daughters had taken the news about their divorce. “Anything that concerns Vladimir Putin’s private life concerns only him, and he has […]

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Lyudmila Putina Once Called Her Husband a Vampire

Vladimir Putin and Lydumila Putin file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 7, 2013) Lyudmila Putina once called President Vladimir Putin a vampire, while he in turn has suggested that anyone who could put up with her for three weeks was heroic and deserved a monument. These and other observations about the private family life of the Putins were detailed in a 2001 book that provided […]

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