This week marked the end of Vera Putina, a woman who asserted for over two decades that she was the unacknowledged mother of Russian President Vladimir Putin. As per reports, she passed away in Georgia at the age of 96.
The Telegraph informs that Putina's death follows over two decades of claims that she was the biological mother of Putin. She first made this claim in 1999, which Putin has consistently denied throughout the years.
Putina contended that the future Russian leader was the product of an affair she had with a married man in 1950. She alleged that Putin was born on October 7 of the same year.
Her account includes the claim that she left Putin, who she fondly referred to as "Vova," at the age of 10 in 1960. The young Putin, she said, had endured a traumatic childhood filled with neglect and abuse from her husband and Putin's supposed stepfather, Giorgi Osepahvili.
According to Putina, Putin was then sent to his grandparents in Ochyor, Russia, due to the severe abuse, and was later put up for adoption.
In one of her final interviews before her demise, Putina expressed her longing to see her alleged son, Putin, saying, "My dream is not to die without Vova seeing me and talking to me at least once," She added, "I often see him in my dreams, but he doesn't want to talk to me."
She further conveyed her sense of guilt, stating, "Both in life and in dreams, he is upset about what I did. He cannot forgive me."
While Putin consistently dismissed the allegations, Putina presented multiple photos of a young boy, bearing a striking resemblance to Putin.
Archives unearthed near Metekhi, Georgia, where Putin was allegedly raised before moving to Russia and being adopted, revealed a Vladimir Putin enrolled in a Metekhi school from 1959 to 1960. Further documentation indicates a Vladimir Putin born in the vicinity around 1950.
Despite Putina's startling assertions, the Kremlin maintains that Putin was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1952 to parents Vladimir Putin Sr. and Maria Shelomova. According to them, Putin was the third son in the family, with his two older brothers passing away at a young age. Both Putin Sr. and Shelomova died in the 1990s.