Russian premier Vladimir Putin is now being compared to Ivan the Terrible for the way he treats women, particularly his long-suffering wife, Lyudmila, who hasn’t been seen in public since a state visit to Scotland and England in June.
“A new rumor is spreading through his cabinet that she is locked away in a psych ward somewhere outside of Moscow,” one Russian society source told Flash. “Blogs in Russia have claimed he divorced her years ago, but keeps her around for twice-a-year dog-and-pony shows.”
Our Moscow mouthpiece added that Putin’s alleged extramarital affairs have led some in his cabinet to compare him to Ivan the Terrible, Russia’s brutal 16th-century czar who went through seven consorts, some of whom were either murdered or sent to convents when they displeased him.
Last month, German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported that documents unearthed from BND, the German spy agency, reveal Putin was a “wife-beater and a philanderer” when he served as high-ranking KGB officer in Dresden from 1985 to 1990.
A German agent code-named “Balcony” because of her buxom figure was able to gain the confidence of wife Lyudmila, who evidently poured her heart out about Putin’s violence and infidelities.
The Russian strongman has been linked in the past four years to two gorgeous young women. Alina Kabaeva, 28 — a former Olympic gymnast and member of Russia’s toothless parliament, the Duma — gave birth two years ago to a son widely believed to be Putin’s.
But last summer, Putin — taking a page out of former Sen. John Edwards’ playbook — hired sexy ex-model Yana Lapikova, 25, as his official photographer. Since — like Edwards’ mistress/videographer Rielle Hunter — Lapikova has little experience with a camera, she is believed to be Putin’s latest squeeze.
The rumors about Putin’s wife come as his political dominance is being challenged. Thousands of demonstrators in Moscow have been protesting Russia’s recent fraudulent elections.
But in March, Putin, who stepped down because of term limits, is expected to regain the presidency that his puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, has held since 2008.
Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets who has announced his intention to run for Russia’s presidency, is seen by some experts as a Kremlin straw man put forward to distract protesters.
But in a rare show of disrespect, fans at an mixed martial arts fight in Moscow last month booed Putin when he came into the ring to congratulate Russian Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko after his victory over Jeff “The Snowman” Monson of Olympia, Wash.
It was a low blow for Russia’s comically macho leader, who has had himself photographed riding horses bare-chested, shooting a whale with a crossbow, tracking tigers, flying a firefighting jet, swimming a Siberian river, driving a Formula One race car and hanging out with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
“A new rumor is spreading through his cabinet that she is locked away in a psych ward somewhere outside of Moscow,” one Russian society source told Flash. “Blogs in Russia have claimed he divorced her years ago, but keeps her around for twice-a-year dog-and-pony shows.”
Our Moscow mouthpiece added that Putin’s alleged extramarital affairs have led some in his cabinet to compare him to Ivan the Terrible, Russia’s brutal 16th-century czar who went through seven consorts, some of whom were either murdered or sent to convents when they displeased him.
Last month, German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reported that documents unearthed from BND, the German spy agency, reveal Putin was a “wife-beater and a philanderer” when he served as high-ranking KGB officer in Dresden from 1985 to 1990.
A German agent code-named “Balcony” because of her buxom figure was able to gain the confidence of wife Lyudmila, who evidently poured her heart out about Putin’s violence and infidelities.
The Russian strongman has been linked in the past four years to two gorgeous young women. Alina Kabaeva, 28 — a former Olympic gymnast and member of Russia’s toothless parliament, the Duma — gave birth two years ago to a son widely believed to be Putin’s.
But last summer, Putin — taking a page out of former Sen. John Edwards’ playbook — hired sexy ex-model Yana Lapikova, 25, as his official photographer. Since — like Edwards’ mistress/videographer Rielle Hunter — Lapikova has little experience with a camera, she is believed to be Putin’s latest squeeze.
The rumors about Putin’s wife come as his political dominance is being challenged. Thousands of demonstrators in Moscow have been protesting Russia’s recent fraudulent elections.
But in March, Putin, who stepped down because of term limits, is expected to regain the presidency that his puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, has held since 2008.
Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets who has announced his intention to run for Russia’s presidency, is seen by some experts as a Kremlin straw man put forward to distract protesters.
But in a rare show of disrespect, fans at an mixed martial arts fight in Moscow last month booed Putin when he came into the ring to congratulate Russian Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko after his victory over Jeff “The Snowman” Monson of Olympia, Wash.
It was a low blow for Russia’s comically macho leader, who has had himself photographed riding horses bare-chested, shooting a whale with a crossbow, tracking tigers, flying a firefighting jet, swimming a Siberian river, driving a Formula One race car and hanging out with Jean-Claude Van Damme.
PHOTO: English School
Many in Moscow whisper that like Ivan the Terrible, Putin brutalizes the women in his life.
PHOTO: Reuters, Astapkovich Vladimir/ABACAUSA
Putin has been linked to Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva and amateur photographer Yana Lapikova.
