From Russia, Without Love: Russian President Divorces Wife

(CNA)- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, have announced their divorce after 30 years of marriage. The Putins made the statement on state television.”It was our joint decision,” 60-year-old Putin said.

The Putins married on July 28, 1983 and have two daughters, Maria, 27, and Yekaterina, 26.

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that they no longer lived together, Putin said: “That is true … We practically never saw each other. To each his own life.”

Lyudmila Putin said: “Our marriage is over due to the fact that we barely see each other.”

Asked whether they were divorced, Lyudmila Putin said it was a “civilised divorce”, but neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know.