And not just that, but the Russian president's alleged intentions to marry a 24-year-old gymnast in a summer wedding. Vladimir Putin denied the story at a Friday press conference with resurrected Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. Here's how the New York Times had it:

"The question followed the publication on Thursday of an unusual article in Moskovsky Korrespondent, a Moscow newspaper owned by a former Soviet intelligence officer, which said that Mr. Putin, 56, planned to marry Alina Kabayeva, 24, an Olympic gold medalist in rhythmic gymnastics who has been voted in polls as one of Russia’s most beautiful women. Interfax reported Friday evening that publication of Moskovsky Korrespondent had been suspended 'for financial reasons,' according to its parent company, National Media Company.

Mr. Putin has been married to Ludmilla Putina, 51, since July 1983 — two months before Ms. Kabayeva was born. The couple has two grown daughters, but Mr. Putin and Mrs. Putina are not often seen together in public, which has long fueled rumors that Russia’s president has had a wandering eye.

...After denying the article’s contents, Mr. Putin softened a bit and remarked that Moskovsky Korrespondent was not the first to speculate on his personal life.

'In other such publications other successful, beautiful young women and girls have been mentioned,' he said with a smile. 'I don’t think it will be a surprise if I say that I like them all, because they are all Russian women.'

He also called Russian women the 'most talented and beautiful,' adding that they could be challenged only by the women of Italy.

He then ruminated briefly on the limits of privacy in public life — a condition that he suggested was true even in the climate of limited civic discourse in Russia, which Mr. Putin himself has done much to produce.

'Society has the right to know how public figures live,' he said. 'But even in this case, there is a limit: private life, which no one has the right to trespass.'

He added, in familiar form, 'I have always disliked those who, with their infected noses and erotic fantasies, break into other people’s private affairs.'"

Sounds kinda disgusting, huh? Well, it could have been lost in translation. Reuters reported:

"I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives."

While the Associated Press reported it:

"I have always had a negative opinion of those who, with their snotty noses and their erotic fantasies, meddle in other people's lives."

So "snotty" beats "infected" in the translation battle over Putin's grody quote. But ABC News had another nugget from the press conference:

"(Berlusconi), who triumphed in elections this week, has long been a friend and political ally of Putin — and he was quick to show his loyalty.

He mockingly pretended to mow down the offending reporter with a machine gun, then jokingly proposed swapping the Russian press with the Italian press."

Which would have been funnier if so many reporters weren't getting gunned down for real in Russia.

In addition to being suspended until the paper found "a new concept," Moskovsky Korrespondent's Web site was taken down Friday. Igor Dudinsky, deputy editor-in-chief, told Reuters: "We stand by our story -- we had information and we reported it."

(Photo by Artyom Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images)