Putin votes in Russia polls with rarely-seen wife

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Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday cast his ballot in presidential elections he is expected to win, boasting he had come straight from sport and accompanied by his rarely-seen wife Lyudmila.

Putin's wife has been almost invisible in public over the last months, sparking frenzied Internet speculation about the private life of the Russian strongman.

But the sudden reappearance of Lyudmila could be a signal to Russia that she will again assume the responsibility of Russian First Lady after Putin's expected return to the Kremlin from his current job as prime minister.

"I woke up, did some sport and then came here" to the polling station in Moscow, Putin told reporters alongside his smiling wife. "I am hoping for a strong turnout."

One of their last joint appearances was back in October 2010, when Lyudmila surprised Russia after a long absence from public life by sitting next to Putin as he was counted in the Russian census.

A small Russian newspaper that alleged in 2008 that Putin had an affair with Russian Olympic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva. But the publication ended up refuting its own report and then shutting itself down.

Putin's aides have insisted Lyudmila appears in public so little simply because of his business-crammed daily schedule.