Catas Catastrophe News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

[ chanting ] >> all of east germany, angry crowds lashed out on the streets. that night in dresden, they found a target. the local kgb headquarters. a mob surrounded the building, as the hour grew later, the crowd grew larger. inside, peering through the curtains was a young kgb lieutenant colonel named vladimir putin. >> he was terrified they were going to storm the building. >> putin was a junior officer, but the boss was away. he was in charge. the berlin wall had come down, police weren't going to help. he called for instruction. desperate for help, putin dialed kgb headquarters ...

>> new freedoms, capitalism, western values. it all looked great from the west. to vladimir putin, it was a catas catastrophe. >> he views the breakup of the soviet unity, as he said himself, to be the greatest gop political tragedy of the 20th century. >> but it wasn't just geography to putin. the breakup he said for millions of russians away from the country they loved, a country in which they belonged. >> tenning of millions of russians, russian speakers were, quote, unquote, abandoned, ripped away from us. it didn't have to be. the soviet union was our common past. >> the most painful sepa...