Putin hopes that the 17 years in power, it personally did not affect
MOSCOW, 5 Jan — RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes that the 17 years of his leadership has not affected his personality.
“I hope not” — he said, responding to a question in an interview with U.S. television channel NBC. Meanwhile, Putin stressed that he feels a direct connection with Russia and its history, which was full of tragic events.
“What am I feeling? I feel a direct living connection with the land, with history, with the country. You said that in St. Petersburg for a few days. Yesterday (June 1 — ed.) spoke with the Prime Minister of India, he visited the Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery, where are buried about 400 thousand of Leningrad, as a rule, civilians who died during the Second world war in the blockade. They died of starvation. And in one of the graves buried my older brother, whom I never saw, and I will never forget about it, as well as the fact in what condition our country was in the early 90-ies”, — he said.