Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photoMOSCOW, 20 Feb. Irish journalist Brian McDonald pointed out to New York Times correspondent Peter Baker on Twitter a mistake in translating Russian President Vladimir Putin's words about the collapse of the USSR and recalled why the head of state called this event a disaster. In his microblog, the NYT journalist wrote that the Russian leader allegedly going to take over Ukraine in order to correct the «catastrophe» that turned out to be the collapse of the USSR.
"To understand Putin now, it is important to remember that he called the collapse of the Soviet Union, which freed millions, "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century", Baker wrote on Twitter.
However, his colleague recalled, that the Russian leader was not really talking about the disaster because of «freeing millions».
"Putin actually called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century" because it left millions of Russians outside the new Russia. This quote is constantly misinterpreted. Either intentionally or out of ignorance,” McDonald noted.
Then, with the help of another Twitter user, he also noticed a mistake in translating the president’s words. “In fact, Putin said: “First of all, it should be recognized that the collapse The Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.» «The biggest», not the «greatest»,» the journalist emphasized.»Was it aired?» Americans ridiculed Biden's Ukraine clauseIn a 2005 State of the Union Address, Putin described the collapse of the USSR as the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the last century. In 2017, the president, commenting on his statement, explained that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, 25 million Russian people ended up abroad overnight. «And this is really one of the biggest disasters of the 20th century,» Putin said in an interview with Oliver Stone in the film shown on the Showtime TV channel. The Russian leader noted that the citizens of the USSR lived within the framework of a single country, they had family ties, a job, an apartment, they were equal in rights, but in one second they ended up abroad. The President added that first signs appeared in the country, and then a full-scale civil war, the social protection system was completely destroyed, entire sectors of the economy were stopped, the healthcare system was actually destroyed, the army was in a deplorable state, and millions of people fell below the poverty line. For months, Western states have been expressing concern over Russia's alleged «dangerous actions» near Ukraine's borders. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone and does not intend to attack anyone. The country's authorities believe that allegations of «aggression» are being used as an excuse to deploy more military equipment and NATO forces near Russian borders. do not go: the United States noticed the revival of the USSRPublished: Nikita Brykin