Vladimir Putin has pulled off one of his most audacious pieces of stagecraft, attending a ballet with his rarely seen wife and then emerging smiling and announcing their marriage was over.
The end of the marriage of the Russian president and Lyudmila Putina, less than two months before their 30th wedding anniversary, came on state television after an evening that started out like a model of domestic contentment — a devoted husband taking his wife out for an arty interlude.
After the performance of Esmeralda at Moscow’s Great Kremlin Palace, the two came into a luxurious room to speak to a reporter.
“Excellent. Great music, excellent production,” Mr Putin said, and Lyudmila echoed his praise.
After about a minute, the reporter asked about rumours that the two did not live together. Mr Putin smiled slightly, like a boy caught misbehaving, and turned his head towards his wife. “This is so,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether this meant just separate homes, but after a few more comments, the reporter gently prodded: “I am afraid to say this word ‘divorce’.”
“Yes, this is a civilised divorce,” Mrs Putin said.
Strategic move
The peculiar format for the announcement appeared aimed at underlining that this was not just a powerful man dumping his faithful helpmate. That is a potentially important strategic move for Mr Putin, who has based his public image on rectitude and support of traditional values.
Tabloid reports in 2008 claimed Mr Putin had already divorced Lyudmila and planned to marry a gymnast less than half his age.
Interfax news agency cited presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the divorce has not been formalised and that the televised comments were only an announcement of the decision to divorce.
Divorce is common in Russia. Nearly 700,000 couples dissolved their marriages in 2009, according to Unicef. Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who studies Russia's political elite, said the divorce would probably not hurt Mr Putin in the public eye — as long as he did not take a trophy wife.
"If a young wife appears, then the reactions in society may be very different," she said in an article published by the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on its website.
Grudging approval
For some of his detractors, the move even seemed to earn some grudging approval.
“For years I’ve heard that it would be good if Putin told the truth and divorced. And what now? Everyone’s criticising him for the divorce,” Ksenia Sobchak, a socialite and supporter of Mr Putin’s opposition, wrote on Twitter.
Russian leaders, unlike their American counterparts, generally keep their domestic lives well out of public view. Lyudmila Putina (55), has rarely been seen in public during her husband’s long tenure at the top of Russian politics.
"I don't like publicity and flying is difficult for me," said the former Aeroflot flight attendant.
Her 60-year-old husband, however, seeks the spotlight. His penchant for macho media events ranging from riding with bearded motorcyclists to petting a polar bear have earned him admiration and derision by turn, and his televised annual news conferences that stretch beyond four hours are well known.
“All my activities, all my work, is linked with publicity. Absolute publicity. Some people like it, some people don’t. But there are people who absolutely can’t stand it,” Mr Putin said.
What he rarely shows in public is any hint of vulnerability. The divorce announcement did not have the air of a man brooding over the fading of love’s bloom. Rather, Lyudmila portrayed him as a man devoted to his country.
"Vladimir Vladimiorvich is absolutely concentrated on his work," she said.
Mr Putin, in turn, aimed for a touch of gallantry, remarking on his wife’s forbearance. “Lydumila Alexandrovna has kept the watch for eight years, even nine,” he said, apparently referring to his first two terms in the Kremlin and his year-old non-consecutive third term.
The Putins married on July 28th, 1983, and have two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina, whose lives get little public view.
“We love them very much and we are proud of them,” Mr Putin said.
There have been hints that Mrs Putin was unhappy. In a 2005 interview with three Russian newspapers, she complained that her husband worked long hours, forgetting that “one needs not only to work, but also to live”.
AP