The Soviet Union committed the "auto-da-fe" because the country wanted to establish stronger ties with the West to become part of the civilized world.

Axar.az reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin said this in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin.

"The USSR committed the 'auto-da-fe', that is, it liquidated itself; they assumed that Russia would become part of the so-called civilized world," he said.

According to Putin, after that, Western countries decided that if the USSR no longer existed, then they would ignore the rules regarding Russia, which did not have the same potential power as the Soviet Union.

He added that after the collapse of the USSR, the West tried to reshape Russia in its interests, but Moscow understood that this country must defend its interests.

He emphasized that Russia would either be independent and sovereign, or not at all.