The web site of a Russian tabloid reappeared Monday, three days after suspending operations following the publication of a story claiming that President Vladimir Putin had left his wife to marry a 24-year-old former Olympic gymnast.

It was still unclear late Monday whether the paper, Moskovsky Korrespondent, would itself remain in publication.

Billionaire Alexander Lebedev, whose National Media Company publishes the paper, said Monday that the "reasons behind closing of the newspaper are purely economic," Kommersant reported.

Artyom Artyomov, the company's director, told the same newspaper that Moskovsky Korrespondent is "being suspended" and that he is not going to allocate any more money to it, but that there is enough cash left in its accounts to cover severance pay for the staff. "Chances that publication of this newspaper would be resumed are small."