Russian president Putin and wife Lyudmila Divorced

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, have announced today that they have separated and their marriage is over.The 60-year-old and his 55-year-old wife broke the news of the end of the 29-year marriage on television.

Asked on Rossiya-24 television about longstanding rumours that they no longer lived together, the 60-year-old Putin said: 'That is true.'

 Lyudmila Putin said it had been a 'our common decision. And our marriage is over due to the fact that we barely see each other.'

Asked whether they were divorced, Lyudmila said it was a 'civilised divorce'.

But neither clarified whether they were legally divorced and Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said he did not know.

The couple had last been seen in public together at Putin's inauguration to his third presidential term on May 7, 2012.

Married just a few weeks short of 30 years, the Putins announced the decision on state television after attending a ballet performance Thursday evening in the Kremlin.

His wife has rarely been seen in public during her husband's long tenure at the top of Russian politics.

'I don't like publicity and flying is difficult for me,' she said.

In the televised announcement of their divorce, Putin appeared reserved and Lyudmila smiled tentatively.