Putin's Romance with Power

Love stories of politicians (of all hues) fascinate us all. Such affairs, most kept under wraps for obvious reasons, help the media make money, lend political rivals ammo, and the general public fun and scandal (depending on your point of view).

Last week, Moskovsky Korrespondent, a racy tabloid, published an editorial stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin had divorced Ludmila (Lyudmila), his wife of 25 years, and is all set to marry Alina Kabayeva, an Olympian gold medalist gymnast and a sitting member of the Parliament (she represents Putin's party). My first reaction? I thought Putin was going the Sarkozy way!!

While Putin reacted angrily to the news report, the gymnast also rubbished the story.

It is a rare first for a Russian publication to carry a story on their President's love life. In a polity whose every nuance is controlled by Putin, the publication of such a story, unsubstantiated at that, was bound to have repercussions. Heads had to roll.

And heads did roll. The editor of the publication resigned. The company that financed the publication backed out. It is now widely believed that the publication is all set to shut shop.

In the current international system, Putin is an exception. Exception because of his I-don't-give-a-damn-attitude towards the U.S. and western Europe. An autocrat, the former KGB spy has only one goal: to turn Russia into a global military powerhouse.

Putin believes that he can achieve this on the back of military technology amid an unprecedented oil boom - the idea being that energy money would help finance the development of highly advanced military technology.

More on Putin's plans for Russia later. But here's a peep (published in 2005 - well, three years in a marriage is an age) into the Russian President's conjugal life, in the words of his wife, Ludmila. And yes, Putin is a typical Oriental husband.

After stepping down from the presidency, Putin is returning as the Prime Minister. Who said that autocracy died with the demise of the Soviet Union?