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Putin says USSR collapse had greatest impact on him

Putin noted that there had been no events that would directly affect his life

SOCHI, July 21. /TASS/. The collapse of the Soviet Union was the most powerful impactful event in his life, President Vladimir Putin said in the program A Serious Talk with Vladimir Putin on Friday.

A girl Alisa asked him to reveal the event in life that had the biggest influence on him. Putin hesitated to answer right away. "Event in my life?" he repeated, reflecting on the question. "You really gave me a tough question to answer," Putin said, noting that there had been no events that would directly affect his life.

"Let me try to say this in earnest... Perhaps, I’d have to say... the disintegration of the Soviet Union," he finally acknowledged. "Such an adult answer, but excuse me, you asked an adult question," Putin told Alisa as he met with children at the Sirius Educational Center for Gifted Children in Sochi.