<p><br /> Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila have made a rare joint public appearance seeking to reaffirm their marriage amid persistent divorce rumours.<br /> </p><p><br /> In pictures shown on Russian TV on Sunday, the couple jointly answered questions from a census-taker who visited Putin's residence outside Moscow as part of a nationwide population count.<br /> </p><p><br /> The Putins have not been seen together in public much, raising media speculation that they had secretly split and that Vladimir had planned to marry Olympic champion gymnast Alina Kabayeva.<br /> </p><p><br /> In the new video and answering questions on his marital status, Putin said firmly that he was married and that the marriage was officially registered.<br /> </p><p><br /> Lyudmila looked slightly awkward and seemed nervous, her eyes frequently blinking during this section of the interview.<br /> </p><p><br /> When asked her profession and source of income Lyudmila said she was a housewife and Putin added, 'We have one source of income".<br /> </p><p><br /> The 58-year-old, who stepped down as president in 2008 has been married to Lyudmila, a former flight hostess, since 1983. They have two daughters.<br /> </p><p><br /> Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters the divorce rumours were "nonsense" and the fact the couple was appearing only rarely in public was due to Putin's "immense workload".<br /> </p><p><br /> Last month the Orthodox Church denied rumours circulating in the Internet that Lyudmila had become a nun and was appointed by the Patriarch an abbess in one of its monasteries.<br /> </p>
