Vladimir Putin's odd way of asking his wife to marry him which left her baffled

Vladimir Putin has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, in a bid to overthrow its democratically elected government.

The odd, reclusive President has an intense daily schedule - and tries to keep intrusions into his personal life strictly limited.

Putin married Lyudmila Shkrebneva in 1983 and the couple had two daughters, Mariya and Yekaterina.

Although he is notoriously secretive about his personal life, the couple announced their separation in a staged television interview in June 2013.

The divorce was later confirmed by Lyudmila's name being removed from Putin's official biography on the Kremlin website, so his biography simply mentions their children instead.

In his 2000 biography 'First Person', which contains a series of interviews with the Russian president and figures close to him, Lyudmila shared details of their relationship.

In a frank chat, she revealed that she didn't think much of the "poorly dressed" man she met outside a theatre while on a double date.

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The couple on their wedding day (REX/Shutterstock)

But the pair continued to keep in touch after Putin gave her his phone number - a rare move for the privacy-obsessed KGB officer.

After three-and-a-half years, Putin proposed, but his subdued manner left Lyudmila convinced he was actually trying to dump her.

She took the interviewee: "One night we were sitting this house and he said, "You know what kind of person I am by now.

"In general, I'm not very easygoing. He was being self-critical. He explained that he was the silent type; that he was rather abrupt in some things and he could even insult people, and so on.

"He was saying that he was a risky life partner. And he added: "In three and a half years, you have probably made up your mind."

"It sounded to me like we were breaking up. 'Yes, I've made up my mind,' I said. "He let out a doubtful 'Yes?'

"Then I was sure that that was it, we were breaking up. But then he said, 'Well then if that is the way it is, I love you and propose we get married.' So it all came as a complete surprise to me."