Russian President Vladimir Putin and first lady Lyudmila’s divorce announcement surprised all in the country. Their 30-year marriage is now over. However, few had imagined that the announcement would ever be made public.

In a joint interview with state TV yesterday, Putin’s wife Lyudmila frankly talked about her divorce. The couple were not staying together for a long time. Their break-up was long an open secret but now they made it public.

However, the couple paid respect to each other after the divorce. While Lyudmila was grateful to Putin for supporting her, Putin praised her for standing firm with him for almost 9 years when he served as President. Despite separation, they will be close to each other.

After the announcement, there were speculations whether the 60-year-old Putin is dating another woman. His private life is made open now, who lived in such secrecy.

However, Putin’s spokesman denied that the President was planning to remarry. Earlier, a newspaper had reported in 2008 that Putin was about to marry Olympic gymnast turned legislator Alina Kabayeva. Later, the paper denied the story.