#6
The Times (UK)
December 29, 2001
It's hard to be me, says First Lady of Russia
FROM CLEM CECIL IN MOSCOW
LYUDMILA PUTIN stepped firmly into the ranks of world leaders’ wives yesterday with an interview demonstrating her religious faith, her charity work, her devotion to her husband and her recipe for soup.
In her first interview to a Russian newspaper, Mrs Putin, 43, also provided glimpses of her home life, admitting that she sometimes argued with her husband even now he was the President and saying that her new role made it “very hard to remain myself”.
The whole family are active Russian Orthodox believers. On her birthday, Vladimir Putin, 49, gave her a golden chain and cross. “When I woke up it was lying on the bedside table,” she said. “He had bought it two months earlier in Jerusalem. His self-control and patience always amaze me. When I buy presents I have to give them straight away.”
She told Komsomolskaya Pravda: “We go to church about once a month. I don’t like to talk about my faith in public. It is a very personal thing, but I do believe faith can unite people.”
When asked if she meant that faith could only unite Orthodox Christians, she replied: “I think that in order to achieve the harmonious and bright future that we all dream about, humanity must unite under one faith. Or at least we must respect the existence of other faiths without war or spite. Russian Orthodoxy advocates first and foremost love and tolerance of your fellow man.”
The Putins met 21 years ago when he was a student and she was an air hostess. She used to fly to St Petersburg from her home town of Kaliningrad to meet him for dates. Mr Putin courted his future wife with characteristic caution, proposing to her 3½ years later. They have two daughters, Masha, 16, and Katya, 15.
“Vladimir said in his autobiography that he grew up in a loving atmosphere,” Mrs Putin said. “I would add that he was raised with a strong work ethic and we try to instil this in our daughters. A child must be fully occupied in his spare time. For example, our daughters have been taught the violin since they were tiny.
“I also worry about the girls’ health, and make sure that all the hard work doesn’t take its toll on them. I have never demanded that they get high marks. I think the main thing is knowledge.”
Katya and Masha study at home and a bodyguard joins them when they go out. Mrs Putin emphasises how much her husband loves them, saying that he always goes to say goodnight to them even if he comes home late.
She insists that her relationship with him has not changed since he became President. “To me, the President of Russia is first and foremost a husband,” she said. “I have many daily worries, and as a wife and a woman discuss them with Vladimir when he has spare minutes.
“It is hard of course — nearly all the President’s time is devoted to work. But when we have a problem to discuss, I tell him what I think and I even argue with him sometimes. However, I value the opinion of my husband and we agree on most things.
“I am seen as the ‘female face’ of the country. Onlookers judge my appearance, clothes, what I say and how I receive guests in the same way as they judge the state itself, and the conditions for women in our society. To be honest, in my situation, it is very hard to remain myself. Yet I think this is our main aim in life. Every person has his own cross to carry, and its size depends on how strong the person is.”
Mrs Putin also finds time for social work. After she visited a penal colony for female offenders in Mozhaisk, the Russian Duma pardoned ten women and children who were convicted for petty crimes. “My principal aim is to attract the attention of society to the problem of child crime. We need to fight this problem together. People call it a social problem, which it is to a certain extent. But I would like every one of us to take responsibility for it, everybody in the world, not only in Russia.”
As to how she dresses, Mrs Putin says she relies on her own intuition. “I try to be true to my own understanding of beauty, fashion and style rather than use stylists,” she said. “I have clothes made for me in Russia, but I am not against buying ready-made items. I don’t follow fashion. I love bright, stylish and unusual clothes.”
When visiting the Bushes on their Texas ranch in November, Mrs Putin wore a white sleeveless jumper, covered in speckled feathers, which stood out beside the conventionally dressed Laura Bush.
Mrs Putin divulged that she would be following a tradition of reading the horoscopes to decide what to wear on New Year’s Eve. “In general I don’t pay any attention to astrology, but I like to more or less go by the recommended colour to wear on New Year’s Eve,” she said. This year astrologists advise wearing black, red or white.
Her own new year prediction was: “I think that Russia and every one of its citizens will feel a new surge of strength and energy.”
In the interview she reveals her personal recipe for Ukho, a traditional Russian fish soup. Mrs Putin’s recipe is an international take on a national dish, which includes exotic spices and fruits.
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