Butin completed: "We have turned into a completely different country. What was built over 1,000 years is largely lost"noting that 25 million Russians in the newly independent countries suddenly found themselves isolated from Russia, which is part of what he called "A great human tragedy".
Putin also described for the first time how he was personally affected by the difficult economic times that followed the Soviet collapse, when Russia suffered from hyperinflation.
The Russian president said: "Sometimes (I) had to work two jobs and drive a taxi. It is unpleasant to talk about this but, unfortunately, it happened".
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And he said Putin During a televised meeting with the leaders of the intelligence services of former Soviet countries: “It is enough to look at what is currently happening between Russia Ukraine and what is happening at the borders of other countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States. All of this, of course, is the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
“We have turned into a completely different country. What was built over 1,000 years is largely lost,” Putin continued, noting that 25 million Russians in the newly independent countries suddenly found themselves isolated from Russia, which is part of what he called a “great human tragedy.” .
Putin also described for the first time how he was personally affected by the difficult economic times that followed the Soviet collapse, when Russia suffered from hyperinflation.
“Sometimes (I) had to work two jobs and drive a taxi. It’s unpleasant to talk about this, but, unfortunately, it happened,” the Russian president said.