Miss Kabayeva, who is alleged to have given birth to Putin’s lovechild, is now a politician after retiring from a glittering career in gymnastics in which she represented her country at the Olympics twice.
Rumours about Putin’s alleged affair with Miss Kabayeva first surfaced five years ago when a Russian newspaper owned by the oligarch Alexander Lebedev reported that Putin wanted to marry his gymnast mistress.
Putin angrily denied the story, and the newspaper was closed down shortly afterwards, which many attributed to Putin’s rage. Further stories later emerged claiming that Miss Kabayeva had had a baby by the president, but both sides denied them.
Mr and Mrs Putin 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.