By Osagie Alonge
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila have revealed their marriage of 30 years is over.
The couple made their divorce public on Russian state television after attending a ballet performance.
‘It was a joint decision: we hardly see each other, each of us has our own life’, Putin said.
It’s of public knowledge that Lyudmila dislikes publicity. She told the TV reporter that flying was difficult for her. ‘Vladimir Vladimirovich is completely drowned in work’, she said.
Lyudmila said the divorce was ‘civilised’ and that the couple would ‘always remain close’.
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Shkrebneva married in 1983. They have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, both in their 20s.
