Russian President Vladimir Putin recently revealed that he drove a taxi to make ends meet after the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The politician claimed that the fall of the Soviet Union was a spell on the end of “historical Russia.”

President Putin formerly served as an agent to Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB), the security service of Soviet Union. Previously as well, he has lamented over the three decade old disintegration of USSR, claiming it to be a “tragedy” for “most citizens”.

RIA Novosti Sunday, a state run news agency reported these comments as excerpts from “Russia. Recent History,” an upcoming film to be broadcast by Channel One. 

The Russian leader, Vladimir Putin was cited saying, “After all, what is the collapse of the Soviet Union? This is the collapse of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union.” 

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Putin was initially taken aback after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A loyal servant of the nation, he called it “the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.”

It has been noted previously, that Putin is rather apprehensive of the western military taking over ex-soviet nations. Only this week Russia asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to formally scrap the decision of taking over Georgia and Ukraine, both of which were previously a part of the USSR. 

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There is nothing hidden about the fact that the disintegration of the Soviet Union accompanied with the shift from communism to capitalism, led to extreme poverty and economic instability in Russia. 

Excerpts from the above documentary revealed that Putin would many a times drive a taxi, to make ends meet. 

“Sometimes I had to earn extra money,” Putin said.

“I mean, earn extra money by car, as a private driver. It’s unpleasant to talk about to be honest but, unfortunately, that was the case.”