JOIN USThe Russian prime minister allegedly had a string of flings while he was himself a spy in Dresden in the late eighties, Germany’s biggest paper Bild was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
Files from West German spy agency BND published in the German media claim an interpreter agent befriended Putin’s wife Lyudmila, now 53, who poured her heart out about her marriage.
She allegedly told the agent that her husband resorted to “domestic violence and (had) numerous sexual affairs”.
Putin, 59, who is expected to return to power next year, headed Soviet intelligence operations in the East German city from 1985 to 1990.
The files were discovered by BND expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, author of several books on the spy agency.
Bild said, “This report gives added nourishment to the rumour that (Putin) left in his black limousine in the spring of 1990 allegedly leaving an illegitimate baby behind.”
Lyudmila once damned her husband with faint praise by confiding to a friend: “At least he doesn’t beat me.” And Putin has been quoted in the past as telling a friend: “Anyone who can spend three weeks with Lyudmila deserves a monument.”
Putin’s chief spokesman said he had “no comment” on the reports, the daily said.