Try this one for your next breakup: Instead of, “I think we need to take some time off,” say, “Let’s go see La Esmeralda.”

La Esmeralda, of course, is the ballet that Russian President Vladimir Putin had gone to see with his wife, Lyudmila Putina, on Thursday before announcing to a television reporter their decision to end their marriage. As President Putin said, “It was a joint decision. We hardly see each other. Each of us has our own life.”

Americans are typically very used to seeing the private lives of their politicians exposed on television. This is less common in Russia, as its public leaders try to keep their private lives much more secretive, and thus the media tends to be more respectful of their privacy. Nevertheless, this event can still have political consequences for the Russian president.

Getting a divorce is a sign of fallibility, and fallibility is a sign of being human. Showing a human side is typically advantageous for politicians, but not in Putin’s case.

Putin’s reign has been based on his image as a strong, almost immortal type of leader. He has won controversial elections despite heavy outcries claiming fraud. Many critics accuse him of ruling by fear through passing vague laws and then only applying them to his opposition. 

His public opponents do have interesting ways of being silenced. In 2008, a Russian newspaper was shut down shortly after an article claimed that Putin planned to leave his wife for Olympic gymnast and parliament member of Putin’s political party, Alina Kabaeva. Then there was the 2012 arrest and conviction of three members from the feminist rock band, Pussy Riot, after performing an anti-Putin music video in a Russian Orthodox cathedral.

The point is: Putin needs to maintain the image of an impenetrable leader to maintain his political traction. Putin has worked hard to maintain this persona, engaging in numerous publicized acts to bolster his image. Over the years, the world has seen images of him hang gliding, riding motorcycles and executing judo moves (not to mention a number of shirtless activities). Now we see his wife leaving him at the expense of his career, and all of a sudden, he seems much less exceptional.

The way the announcement unfolded added to the discomfort for the president. At first, when the television reporter asked the couple about rumors that they were no longer living together, Putin responded with a somewhat cryptic answer. Then Putina followed up much more explicitly by saying that their marriage was over because they don’t spend any time together. Quite ironic that we see a man of such great power be subject to the same scrutiny that all married men likely receive at some point in their lives.

There is no question that having Putin’s facade penetrated will somewhat delegitimize the power he derives from fear. The question now is: to what extent?

Though divorces are common in Russia (it had the world’s highest divorce rate in 2012), the last Russian leader to get divorced was Peter the Great, over 300 years ago. And although Russian society as a whole has embraced divorce, the jury is still out on how it will be reacted to in a political setting. Regardless of the outcome, the fallout will contain the subtle message that the Russian leader is in fact fallible, and that encourages discussion on whether a change for the better could be made.

The breakup is even more ironic considering that Putin has led the country in very conservative direction, embracing the ideals of the Orthodox Church, which frowns upon divorce.

It’s interesting to recall a statement he made a while back in a response to the Pussy Riot arrests. He said, “Their arrest was right and their sentence was right. One must not erode moral fundamentals and undermine the country. What will be left without that?”

Indeed, what will be left without that?

Andrew is a junior in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected]