Drove a taxi to make ends meet after fall of USSR, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the collapse of the Soviet Union spelled the end of "historical Russia," revealing he drove a taxi to make ends meet following the USSR's fall."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." Putin, a former agent of the Soviet Union's KGB security services, who has previously lamented the USSR's fall, said the disintegration three decades ago remains a "tragedy" for "most citizens".The comments, reported by state-run news agency RIA Novosti Sunday, were excerpts from an upcoming film by broadcaster Channel One, dubbed "Russia. Recent History".

The end of the Soviet Union brought with it a period of severe economic instability that plunged millions into poverty, as newly independent Russia evolved from communism to capitalism. "After all, what is the collapse of the Soviet Union? This is the collapse of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union," the Russian leader was cited as saying. A loyal servant of the Soviet Union, Putin was dismayed when it fell apart, once calling the collapse "the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century". Russia was the centre of the Soviet Union that grew to include 15 republics from the Baltics in the West to Central Asia.In 1991, wracked by economic woes the Soviet Union disintegrated and Russia became an independent nation.