Putin votes in Russia polls with rarely-seen wife
Russia: Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday cast his ballot in
presidential elections he is expected to win, boasting he had come
straight from sport and accompanied by his rarely-seen wife Lyudmila.
Putin's wife has been almost invisible in public over the last
months, sparking frenzied Internet speculation about the private life of
the Russian strongman.
But the sudden reappearance of Lyudmila could be a signal to Russia
that she will again assume the responsibility of Russian First Lady
after Putin's expected return to the Kremlin from his current job as
prime minister.
"I woke up, did some sport and then came here" to the polling station
in Moscow, Putin told reporters alongside his smiling wife. "I am hoping
for a strong turnout." One of their last joint appearances was back in
October 2010, when Lyudmila surprised Russia after a long absence from
public life by sitting next to Putin as he was counted in the Russian
census.
A small Russian newspaper that alleged in 2008 that Putin had an
affair with Russian Olympic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva. But the
publication ended up refuting its own report and then shutting itself
down.
Putin's aides have insisted Lyudmila appears in public so little
simply because of his business-crammed daily schedule.
AFP |