An 84-year-old Russian actor, Ivan Krasko famous for more than 140 roles in Soviet and Russian films has tied knot with his 24-year old former student and fiancee, Natalia Shevel, who is sixty years junior to him.
The actor tied the knot in a secret ceremony at St Petersburg on Wednesday. The wedding was attended only by close friends and family.
The father of six, Krasko, had three failed marriages before but has, however, denied any possibility of making a public stunt by tying this knot.
Speaking on how they met and came closer, the actor said that it was during the time he was teaching fine art at St Petersburg Institute of Liberal Education and Shevel, one of his students, began writing him poetry which he said had made a “huge impression” on him.
Despite criticism from many, the pair described their relationship as a “match made in heaven”.
The actor added, “As a result of her words, I started to feel like a man in a way that I thought had long since vanished. But it was like being rebooted, and something which was missing returned.”
Soon after the realisation, Krasko proposed by getting down on one knee on the St Petersburg metro and presented Shevel with a diamond ring.
In an interview shortly before the ceremony, the pair said that they feel they cannot spend a single day apart and are living together in the actor’s apartment in central Moscow.
Krasko, who will turn 85 in two weeks, added that the relationship prior to their marriage remained platonic, but he now hopes they will have a family together as they “both wanted children” and that there was a mutual attraction between them both.
The grandfather of three said, “Naturally she has some worries about the future, but for me this is an exciting new time in my life.”
He said he had not yet met her family, although she had been introduced to his sons.