Award Banner
Award Banner

Ex-wife of Kelantan sultan shows off baby whom she says is their son

Ex-wife of Kelantan sultan shows off baby whom she says is their son

The former Russian wife of the ruler of Kelantan has for the first time made public the face of a boy that she says is their son, in another twist to the couple's divorce saga and the baby's paternity.

The baby was first shown to MailOnline, the digital version of the UK DailyMail.

Ms Oksana Voevodina, 27, has now uploaded a picture of Ismail Leon in an Instagram post. She uses the name Rihana Oksana Petra on Instagram.

"Hello. my name is Ismail Leon. I'm 5 months old and my mum loves me very much," the caption accompanying the post says.

The post garnered more than 35,000 likes so far, and 2,000 comments, with many praising the "cute" cherubic baby.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B4WtckniqYP/[/embed]

The former Miss Moscow was said to have married Kelantan's Sultan Muhammad V on June 7 last year, when he was the Malaysian King, but their whirlwind marriage broke down.

Ms Voevodina told MailOnline: "He looks every bit like his father and he has this Asian-looking face."

She claims that the baby was conceived on the couple's honeymoon in Australia after their wedding in June last year. Ismail Leon was born on May 21.

"He's same handsome as his father. And he's very talkative and I love him very, very much," she said.

Ms Voevodina claimed that the ruler had told her when they planned a family that children were "our legacy".

"But how it can be his legacy if he has never seen him in his life?" she asks.

[[nid:463981]]

She has said that she is willing to let her son take a DNA test to prove his paternity.

Sultan Muhammad, 50, through his lawyer Eversheds Harry Elias lawyer Koh Tien Hua said earlier this month that despite her claims, the ruler did not "abandon" Ms Voevodina, who left of her own accord to return to Russia.

She was named as Rihana Oxana Gorbatenko in the letters.

The couple's divorce was carried out in Singapore on June 22 this year in accordance with traditional Islamic law.

The Kelantan Syariah Court gave its permission for the divorce and it issued the divorce certificate on July 1.

Their marriage and breakup garnered much attention, especially after pictures and videos of the wedding were spread online.

[[nid:464281]]

On her Instagram, she has put up their pictures dining and posing together.

In January this year, amid questions whether he had married secretly, Sultan Muhammad, whose full name is Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra Sultan Ismail Petra, stepped down as the Malaysian King.

This was the first time that the titular head of Malaysia, who reigns for five years in a rotation among nine royal houses, had abdicated.

He is still the ruler of Kelantan.

In September, the sultan condemned the dissemination of "personal photos" and comments about his personal lilfe on social media.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.