Topless activist in gymnast stunt over Putin divorce

Moscow: Ukrainian police on Friday detained an activist for performing a topless gymnast stunt mocking Russian President Vladimir Putin`s divorce plans and his rumoured links to an ex-rhythmic gymnast. Putin and his wife Lyudmila announced their separation in a television interview late Thursday, adding fire to rumours of his links to ex-Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, now an MP, although both deny any affair.

Dressed only in panties, the activist from the Femen radical women`s rights group performed the protest outside the Russian embassy in Kiev. With the slogan "Go Russia!" scrawled across her chest, she waved a ribbon used in the rhythmic gymnastics discipline performed by Kabayeva and performed gymnastic jumps. The protester screamed "Vova, I love you!", using a pet name for Vladimir, and "Ukraine is not Alina", before approaching the embassy and being immediately detained by police. Russian newspaper Moskovsky Korrespondent reported in 2008 that Putin was about to marry Kabayeva, 31 years his junior. The paper then denied its own story and was closed by its owner. Femen performed a topless protest as Putin toured an industrial fair in Germany in April. They also bared their breasts at a Moscow polling station where Putin had just voted in the presidential race last year. AFP