More than half of Russians, 51%, believe that the collapse of the USSR could have been avoided, and 56% regret that it happened. These are the results of the survey conducted by the Levada Center.
According to the study, the number of Russians who are nostalgic about the Soviet times is the highest since November 2010, but the historical maximum was registered in December 2000, 75% of Russians voiced their regret about the collapse.
However, the number of those who are upset by the collapse of the Union also reduced – from 37% in November to 28% . 16% of respondents found it difficult to respond to this question, 33% said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was inevitable, and 17% were unable to formulate a response.
According to sociologists, the majority of the survey participants (58%) would like see a revival of the Soviet Union and the socialist system, while 44% believe that it is impossible today. At the same time, every third (31% of respondents) respondent does not want a return to the USSR and socialism.
The survey was conducted on March 25-28 on a representative nationwide sample of urban and rural population. The participant were 1,600 people over the age of 18 years and older in 137 settlements of 48 regions of Russia.
CEO at the Center for Political Information Alexey Mukhin said in an interview with a ‘Vestnik Kavkaza’ correspondent that today the majority of Russians regret the loss of the ‘Soviet citizen’ social status, which was high despite all the obvious disadvantages.
"The citizens of Russia feel concerned because of the increasingly aggressive behavior of NATO. There was strong belief in the Soviet Union that our nuclear-missile shield could protect us from any aggression. But, apparently, the feeling of uncertainty, which was cultivated in 1990s, played its role, and today citizens simply fear for their safety,’’ the expert said.
When asked why he thinks more people nowadays are indifferent about the breakup of the Soviet Union, the general director at the Center for Political Information said that it is a result of emerging new generations and the aging old ones." This is our past. Today people got used to living in a consumer society, they remember about the deficit, queues and certainly miss that. In addition, the rejuvenation process plays its role. We have a lot of people who don’t remember the Soviet Union and all its benefits,’’ Alexei Mukhin noted.
Director of the Center for the Study of the migration policy at the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Victoria Ledeneva, believes that the growing number of the Russians who regret the collapse of the USSR is largely has to do with the loss of the order, control and stability in the society, which they enjoyed before. "Now even the Direct Line with the President showed all the mess, chaos and uncontrolled activity of some officials in the country. Certainly, there were no such problems in the Soviet times. Today we have a whole number of problems: economic relations, relationships between the people. In general, the situation was more stable. Now we have to worry about problems that we need to solve on a daily basis. There were other values and relations in the Soviet times: people helped and supported each other. Unfortunately, now these values are in the second place,’’ the expert said.
Speaking about the reason behind a growing percentage of those who are indifferent to the collapse of the USSR, the director of the Center for the study of migration policy at RANHiGS said: "I think, it refers to young people. On the other we cannot unequivocally say that it was good then and it is bad now. There are both positive and negative aspects. Young people have more opportunities and more interests: they can live their dreams, travel and study abroad,’’ Ledeneva Victoria concluded.
