Vladimir Putin‘s father gouged out his mother’s eye with a pitchfork, it was revealed.
The violent attack came when his mother Maria was just 17 and as a result of the incident in which she lost her eye, Vladimir senior was ordered to marry her.
The attack was ‘in a fit of rage’ according to independent news outlet Proekt.
The bizarre story has emerged as a new book – The Tsar in Person. How Vladimir Putin Fooled Us All – details the Kremlin despot’s life, and was highlighted by Proekt.
Putin’s father arrived with male friends when Maria – known as Marusya – was home alone in her village in Tver region in 1928.
‘Marusya didn’t want to let them in,’ said an account by villager Anfisa Kormilitsyna.
This apparently enraged Putin’s father.
‘They took the pitchfork that was standing by the fence and started breaking down the gate.’
‘She got scared, ran out of the house, and raced up to the fence.
‘And Volodka [Vladimir senior, Putin’s father] at that moment broke through the gate with the pitchfork and hit Marusya right in the face.
‘In short, he accidentally gouged out her eye.
‘He took her to the hospital right away.
‘There, Marusya’s eye was removed.
‘For a girl in those days, this was a disgrace: who would marry a defective woman?
‘So Marusya’s mother threatened Volodka: if you don’t marry, I’ll put you on trial.
‘So they got married.
‘Marusya was very embarrassed about her glass eye later, never looked you in the face when talking, and tilted her head to the side.’
She revealed Putin’s wild father was notorious for terrorising teenage girls in his village.
‘He liked to lift up girls’ skirts and tie them in a knot over their heads,’ said Anfisa.
This was so the village boys ‘could get a better look at the girl’s knickers,’ said co-author Roman Badanin.
‘Putin’s mother had been one-eyed since her youth because the other eye had been put out with a pitchfork in a fit of rage by the father of the future Russian leader,’ said Proekt.
Yet Putin has only spoken about how his parents were perfect.
His mother was over 40 by the time she gave birth to the future spy and dictator, triggering rumours that he was adopted or the child of a lover.
Last year he recounted: ‘Never — I want to emphasise this — never did I see my father drunk.
‘That never happened at all. I’m not even talking about my mother.
‘I never heard a single swear word from him. Not one. Well, I’m not even talking about my mother here either.’
The authors accused Putin of covering up his personal life.
‘In Russia, lies and inventions have replaced truth and history,’ said a story about the new book in Proekt.
‘Real biographies have been forbidden and erased from memory, the press destroyed. Since then, one can lie about absolutely anything.’
