Society Gists

Billionaire Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and his third wife Dasha Zhukova have announced they’ve split after ten years together.

The couple, who have two children together, revealed the news in a statement to the New York Post’s Page Six , and described the separation as ‘amicable’.

The statement said: “After 10 years together, the two of us have made the difficult decision to separate, but we remain close friends, parents and partners in the projects we developed together.

“We are committed to jointly raising our two children.

“We will also continue to work together as co-founders of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and the New Holland Island cultural center in Saint Petersburg.”

When Mr Abramovich split from second wife Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina, she was compensated with a rumoured £1 billion made up of cash and property.

Abramovich has five children – two sons and three daughters – with the former Aeroflot stewardess.

Dasha only confirmed their marriage two years ago after tying the knot in a secret ceremony six years earlier.

She had customarily been referred to as the Russian billionaire’s “girlfriend” or “baby-mama” before that.

She sparked a race row by posing on a chair shaped like a skimpily-dressed black woman.

She later apologised over the chair row, saying: “I utterly abhor racism, and would like to apologise to anyone who has been offended by this image.”

The father-of-seven divorced his first wife, Olga Yurevna Lysova in 1990, after walking down the aisle three years earlier.

Apart from Chelsea he also owns a Boeing 767 and homes in London, France, St. Barts, Coloradom, New York and Los Angeles.