in 2008, a moscow newspaper reported he was planning to divorce her and marry the russian olympic gymnast. putin angrily denied that and the newspaper shut down soon after. this time, as lyudmila putin confirmed the divorce, she explained, she doesn t like flying or publicity. that had to be a big problem if you re married to a plan famous for traveling across the world s largest country attracting lots of attention with highly publicized, tough guy stunts. despite those differences, their marriage lasted just short of 30 years. they have two adult daughters, lyudmila putin says her soon-to-be ex-husband is a loving father and someone she ll always be close to. you heard lyudmila putin there say she doesn t like air travel. when they first met more than 30 years ago through a friend, she was working as a flight attendant on a domestic airline at that time. president putin s spokesman has