From being part of a superpower which had enormous political and geopolitical reach, to suddenly finding you were part of Russia," says Philip Short, journalist and author of Putin: His Life and Times.įor Russians, it meant that many of the assumptions they grew up with were now said to be false, Mr Short says. "It was a huge transition which people in most countries don't go through. When it fell and dissolved in 1991, it was a major shock to those living under its rule.
The Soviet Union - made up of 15 republics, including Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - was once the largest nation in the world, occupying nearly a sixth of the Earth's land surface. How did the fall of the Soviet Union impact Putin? In part one earlier (see 12.30pm post) we look at Vladimir Putin's childhood. In a new eight-part series here in the Sky News Ukraine blog, we're exploring the mind and motivations of the man who brought war back to Europe.
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