In December 1960, having received an ultimatum from her husband, Mrs Putina travelled with "Vova" back to Ochyor. After staying one week to tend her sick mother, she left the boy with her parents and returned to Georgia. She claims the next time she saw her son was on television in 1999. When asked how she recognised him from the boy she had last seen aged ten, she says, "Do you think I would not recognise my son?"