Vera Nikolaevna Putina was a Georgian woman who, from 1999, stated that Vladimir Putin ("Vova") is her 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 might be simply wrong or part of a public relations effort, the story "identifies the holes in the known story of Mr Putin's past". The official story is that Putin's parents were already in their forties when Putin was born, which leaves a gap of over ten years since the births of their previous sons, Albert and Viktor, neither of whom survived childhood. Details of the first ten years of Putin's life are scarce in his autobiography, especially when compared with other world leaders.
Allegedly Vladimir Putin with his mother, Maria Ivanovna Putina (née Shelomova), in July 1958; two years before Vera Putina claims he was sent to his grandparents in Russia.
Artyom Genrikhovich Borovik was a Russian investigative journalist and media magnate. He was the son of a Soviet journalist, Genrikh Borovik, who worked for many years as a foreign correspondent in the U.S.
Artyom Borovik and Yevgeny Dodolev in Mexico, 1989