MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose current net worth is estimated to be around $200 billion, has admitted to driving a taxi to make ends meet after fall of the USSR.
Putin, the former intelligence officer, revealed how the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 90s left him struggling much like millions others who were forced to choose odd jobs to supplement income.
The Russian president disclosed the undisclosed stories like driving a cab to being in the saddle of Presidency of one of the most powerful countries in the world.
“Honestly, it’s not very pleasant to speak about,” Putin said. He never before claimed to have moonlighted as a taxi driver in the early 1990s. His untold story is from Russia. Recent History, an upcoming film. The release of the movie coincides with the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union.
The 69-year-old, who signed laws that could keep him in office until 2036, admitted giving rides in his private car that he brought back from his KGB posting in Dresden.
“After all, what is the collapse of the Soviet Union? This is the collapse of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union,” he was quoted in the upcoming documentary.
However, a 2018 documentary revealed a dissimilar story, in which he expressed fear that he would have to become a cabbie after his mentor and employer Anatoly Sobchak lost re-election as mayor of St Petersburg.
It is well acknowledged that the Russian president considers the collapse as a tragedy but his remarks about his personal difficulties are new. He has previously lamented Russia’s disintegration three decades ago, saying it remains a ‘tragedy for most citizens’.
The United Russia leader was a loyal servant of the union, and was dismayed when it fell apart. Putin was stationed in East Germany, as a KGB agent, at the time of the disintegration within the USSR.
He reportedly returned to Russia in 1990 and started working for the ex-mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, climbing the ladder quickly within his team
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the collapse of the Soviet Union spelled the end of ‘historical Russia’, claiming that he drove a taxi to make ends meet after the fall of the USSR.
On the other hand, the end of the Soviet Union brought with it a period of unadorned economic crunch that plunged the majority into poverty.
Meanwhile, his recent comments come as the West accuses him of planning to recreate the Soviet Union with the invasion of Ukraine – a former Soviet republic.
