Bear in mind, this is coming from a Russian propaganda site, Russia Today, so they are actually seeing this as a positive statement by Putin.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union should have transformed the bloc into a democratic entity rather than see it collapse, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
“You know my attitude towards the collapse of the Soviet Union. There was no need to do it. Reforms could have been undertaken, including those of democratic nature,” the Russian president told the leaders of the parties which won seats in last week's general election.
“But I want to point out that the Communist Party was in charge of our former homeland, the USSR, not any other,” Putin added....
https://www.rt.com/news/360398-putin-ussr-collapse-reform/
