Kremlin confirms Putin’s divorce

The Kremlin has confirmed Russian president Vladimir Putin has finalised the divorce from his wife of 30 years Lyudmila following the couple’s sudden split last summer.

Putin’s official biography, which described him as recently as March 27 as: ‘Married: Wife Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Putina,” now states simply that he has two daughters with no mention of a first lady.

The Putins in June of last year delivered said they were splitting up after three decades of marriage.

Lyudmila Putina had long all-but-vanished from public view, while Putin’s two grown daughters have been kept so hidden from the public eye that few people know what they look like.

The private life of Putin, 61, has long been a subject of rumours, with some linking him to Olympic gymnast-turned MP Alina Kabayeva.