Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed that he drove a taxi to make a living after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
According to the French news agency AFP, the collapse of the Soviet Union was in fact the end of "historic Russia".Putin, a former agent of the Soviet KGB security services who had previously lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union, said the collapse of three decades ago was a "tragedy" for "most citizens."
Putin's remarks were reported on Sunday by Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti, which quoted excerpts from an upcoming Channel One documentary called "Russia." Named 'Recent History'.
In the film, the Russian president is shown saying, "After all, what is the collapse of the Soviet Union?" This is the demolition of historic Russia in the name of the Soviet Union. "
Putin, a loyal government employee of the Soviet Union, was disappointed when he was overthrown. On one occasion, he called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century."
Putin is sensitive to the expansion of Western military ambitions in the former Soviet Union, and Russia this week demanded that NATO formally reverse its 2008 decision to open its doors to Georgia and Ukraine.
It should be noted that the collapse of the Soviet Union brought with it a period of severe economic instability which plunged many people into poverty. The newly independent Russia then moved from communism to capitalism.
Reporting from excerpts from the documentary, RIA Novosti said Putin had revealed that he occasionally worked as a taxi driver to supplement his income.
"Sometimes I have to make extra money," Putin said.
"I mean, as a private driver, make extra money by driving. It's unpleasant to talk about being honest, but unfortunately that's what happened. "
Russia was the center of the Soviet Union, which included 15 states in the west, from the Baltics to Central Asia.
In 1991, due to economic instability, the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia became an independent country.
