Vladimir Putin’s Potemkin Love Life
For years, rumors had persisted about the failed state of Putin’s marriage. But why did he he choose to announce publicly his divorce, with his wife of 29 years standing by his side – and why now?
MOSCOW – From Russia with love? Not in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In recent days, Putin decided to reaffirm the Russian-Syrian geopolitical marriage of convenience by following through on a sale of deadly arms to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, enabling Assad’s army to slay his opponents with greater precision and resolve. Putin then decided to disavow his own marriage to Lyudmila Shkrebneva, his wife of 29 years, announcing the divorce in as publicly humiliating a way as possible – his wife was standing by his side – for a reserved Russian woman.
MOSCOW – From Russia with love? Not in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In recent days, Putin decided to reaffirm the Russian-Syrian geopolitical marriage of convenience by following through on a sale of deadly arms to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, enabling Assad’s army to slay his opponents with greater precision and resolve. Putin then decided to disavow his own marriage to Lyudmila Shkrebneva, his wife of 29 years, announcing the divorce in as publicly humiliating a way as possible – his wife was standing by his side – for a reserved Russian woman.