From left: Ludmila Alexandrowa Putina and Vladimir Putin in 2007.Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty
Amid hisongoing invasion of Ukraine— which began in earnest in late February andhas killed at leasthundreds of soldiers and civilians — Russian PresidentVladimir Putinhas been denounced as a “war criminal” and a “killer” without “a soul.”
Some in his country, believing his arguments for why he had to attack another country, have hailed him as a visionary leader.
But the story began to shift in later years. In 2008, a Russian news outlet reported that Putin (then 56) had divorced Shkrebneva and gotten engaged to a 24-year-old Olympic gold medal rhythmic gymnast named Alina Kabaeva.
The newspaper that reported the story, meanwhile, shut down shortly thereafter, according to theTimes.
From left, front: Vladimir Putin’s daughter Maria with him and mother Ludmila in 2007.ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty
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Five years later, in 2013, the Kremlin said that Putin and Lyudmila had indeed divorced. The speculation regarding his relationship with Kabaeva has persisted — even now, there have been reports that she allegedly went into hiding after the invasion, along with their rumored children, in ahighly secure Swiss chalet.
As Dr. Matthew Schmidt, an expert on strategic analysis in foreign affairs and an associate professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven, tells PEOPLE there are a litany of reasons why Putin has worked so hard to keep his private life hidden from public view.
“First of all, there’s a sense of security,” Schmidt says. “He actually is worried about the safety of his daughters and his ex-wife and his potentially second wife. And so he does it for practical reasons.”
Putin doesn’t necessarily fear that his family would be in physical danger, as Schmidt says, but that they could be targets of intelligence from other countries.
There is also, of course, a financial upside to the secrecy.
“He could use them to hide funds,” Schmidst says, noting that Putin is “widely considered to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet” (though his net worth, like his family situation, issomething of a mystery).
The mystery regarding his family, Schmidt says, is based on “a desire to hide that trail more than anything else.” But there’s also a cultural aspect to the privacy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“This stems from Russian culture and is seen throughout its history,” Schmidt says. “When you look at palace culture and court culture … [royals] were trying to protect their private lives, both from competitors inside the court and from the public.”
Schmidt continues: “There is also a tradition in Russian fairy tales where the Tzars are held up in front of the average person as being almost like saints. So, hiding affairs and dalliances … part of that is just carrying on the cultural tradition.”
Carrying on the cultural traditions of Russia — and expanding that worldview to other countries — is all part of Putin’s long-term plan, Schmidt believes. That echoes the assessment of some others in the West, who see in Putin’s plans a push to revive Russia’s dominance in Europe and Asia.
But on the road to fulfilling that destiny, Schmidt believes Putin can’t effectively hide his personal life forever. “I think U.S. intelligence and the press have a good sense of where the chalet is in Switzerland,” he says. “But I think he has pretty effectively hidden his money.”
source: people.com
