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

(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).

Putin said that he and Lyudmila decided to tell “the truth honestly”. “It is much more correct behaviour that hiding something,” he said.

The Putins revealed their plans to divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage in an interview shown on state-owned news channel Rossiya 24 on the evening of 6 June.

[image is file photo emblematic of Russian Orthodox cathedral and unidentified cleric, unrelated to Putin divorce]