The ex-wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin Lyudmila Putina has changed her surname, according to an investigation published by the news website Sobesednik.ru.
The data, published by the website last week, was confirmed on Monday by Georgy Alburov, head of investigation department of Anti-Corruption Foundation led by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The St. Petersburg apartment originally owned by Putin, his wife and their two daughters — later registered in the name of Lyudmila Putina's mother and sister ?€” passed to Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya in August 2015, according to documents from the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr), and published by Sobesednik.
The place and date of birth of Ocheretnaya coincides with that of Putin's ex-wife.
According to Sobesednik, the passport with a new last name was given to Putin's ex-wife in Moscow on Feb. 2, 2015.
Sobesednik reports that the last name is shared with 37-year-old Artur Ocheretnyi, chairman of the Center for the Development of Interpersonal Communications. Ocheretnyi did not reply to Sobesednik's questions regarding his connection to the president's ex-wife.
President Putin and Lyudmila Putina, who had been married for almost 30 years, announced their divorce in June 2013.