Vera Putina

Who is Vera Putina?

Vera Putina is a woman who has since 1999 stated that Vladimir Putin is her lost son. The woman's claims contrast with Putin's official biography, which states that Putin's parents died before he became president. The Telegraph concluded that while the woman's might be simply wrong or part of public relations effort, the story "identifies the holes in the known story of Mr Putin's past. The official line is that Mr Putin's parents were already in their forties when Mr Putin was born, which leaves a gap of over fifteen years since the births of their previous sons, Oleg and Viktor, neither of whom survived childhood. Details of the first ten years of Mr Putin's life are scarce in his autobiography, especially when compared with other world leaders."

Putina lives in the village of Metekhi, about 18 kilometers from Gori, Georgia. Putina says that Putin's father is a Russian mechanic, Platon Privalov, who got Vera pregnant while he was married to another woman. A "Vladmir Putin" was registered at Metekhi school in 1959-1960. Records show that his stated nationality is Georgian.

Vera married a Georgian soldier Giorgi Osepahvili. Her husband pressured Vera to abandon Putin. In December 1960 she delivered "Vova" back to his grandparents in Russia. Putina believes that the St. Petersburg-based "parents" referred to in Putin's official biography adopted her son from his grandparents.