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Vladimir Putin: File
Russian President Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, saying he worked as a taxi driver to deal with the economic crisis.
Due to the economic crisis caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, many Russians were looking for new ways to earn a living.
Speaking in a documentary on Russia aired on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the fall of the Soviet Union as the destruction of Russia’s historic landmark.
Putin’s speech furthers speculation about his motives for Ukraine in the former Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, more than 90,000 Russian troops are believed to be stationed on the Ukrainian border. Thus, it is feared that Russia is planning to launch an attack on Ukraine.
Russia has denied the allegations, saying it seeks reassurances from Ukraine’s NATO expansion in the east and is acting in a provocative manner.
“This is the disintegration of historic Russia in the name of the Soviet Union,” Putin said. He further added that the West was convinced that Russia’s further decay was a matter of time.
It is well known that Putin views the fall of the Soviet Union as a tragic event. But what he said about his personal troubles at the time was new.
“Sometimes I had to make more money,” Putin said. “I had to work as a car driver and earn more. I don’t want to talk about this, but that’s the situation, unfortunately.
At that time, taxis were rare in Russia. Many individuals drive taxis for their livelihood, previously unknown. Some even used vehicles such as ambulances as taxis.
Putin is known as an agent of the KGB, the Soviet defense force. However, in the 1990s he served in the office of St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobsak. Putin continues to claim that he resigned from the KGB after the August 1991 coup against Soviet President Michael Gorbachev, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Patrick Jackson – BBC correspondent
I was on a bus ride to the bus workshop one night. Then I was intercepted by an ambulance. Ambulances were also used as taxis in Russia in the 1990s. At that time, all the young Russians I knew would use it. Every Russian family head drove a taxi for a living. They were called Pambila (Bomber).
When I first became a student in 1989, there were two unwritten rules here: no one should get into a car that already has more than one seat. The other is to agree on the fee before the car leaves. Back then there were not so many taxis.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the Russian currency depreciated. Thus, informal markets sprouted. Then, you can see a diverse population.
From time to time, I engage in informative conversations with taxi drivers. But, it often causes embarrassment. This may have happened because the driver, who I learned of late as a Westerner, thought I might have been overcharged. They may be ashamed of spending the best years of their lives in it, without living the careers and life they planned.