Earlier this afternoon a story began circling the globe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to divorce his wife in secret and was preparing to marry 22-year old Russian gymnast Alina Kabayeva.

Putin caught wind of the story when he was asked a question about it during a press conference in Sardinia with Italian Prime Minister-elect, Silvio Berlusconi.

He was furious at the question and reacted angrily:

There is not one word of truth in what you have said,” he told the journalist who asked the question.

“I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives,” the former KGB spy said.

I find it mighty ironic that the former boss of the KGB would be lecturing anyone about “prowling” into people’s lives. That said, I suspect other journalists (the ones who aren’t in jail) probably won’t be writing any more stories about President Putin considering what happened next.

Two hours after the press conference, the newspaper in Moscow that originally reported the story was shuttered and its news room fell dark. The paper’s publisher, National Media Company, issued a short press release saying the paper had “suspended publication” until it can come up with “a new concept.”

When reached for comment, the head of National Media Company, Artyom Artyomov, said the sudden closing of the paper had nothing to do with the Putin story.

“There is no question of any political background behind the decision to suspend the newspaper’s publication,” he said.

“We will decide on a new concept for the newspaper and a business plan for its development in the near future.

Not long after that the paper’s website also went dark.

-Chris Jones