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#9 - JRL 9129 - JRL Home
PUTIN CALLS THE BREAKUP OF THE USSR A MAJOR GEOPOLITICAL CATASTROPHE OF THE CENTURY

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - Vladimir Putin called the breakup of the USSR"a major geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

Tens of millions of compatriots found themselves outside the country, which became a real drama for the Russian people. In his words, the old ideas were depreciated. "The integrity of the country turned out to be violated by a terrorist intervention and the subsequent Khasavyurt capitulation," he said.

" The epidemic of disintegration spread to Russia proper," he noted.

However, in his words, it would be wrong to see all these political and economic cataclysms as the agony of the Soviet system.

Oligarchic groups, which controlled information flows, served only their own interests, without taking care of the interests of the country, the president stated.

He recalled the economic decline and the problems in the social sphere. There appeared a mass of the poor and it seemed to many that that was the end of young democracy, Putin said.

"Those who thought so were mistaken," he noted.

"All significant processes in our country were forming and the will for a free life was developing then. The viability of our democracy was being affirmed," the head of state stressed.