Support The Moscow Times!

Nostalgia for the Soviet Union Hits 14-Year High in Russia, Poll Says

Andrei Gordeev / Vedomosti / TASS

More Russians regret the collapse of the Soviet Union than at any point since 2004, according to an independent survey published ahead of the 27th anniversary of the Soviet fall.

Public polling has increasingly shown that a growing number of Russians regret the Soviet collapse and approve of Soviet-era policies. The union collapsed on Dec. 25, 1991 with the resignation of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who handed over power in the Kremlin to Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Sixty-six percent of Russians say they regret that the U.S.S.R. broke up, according to the results of the survey published by the Levada Center pollster on Wednesday, up from 58 percent last year.

Only a quarter said they did not regret the fall of Communism, marking what the pollster called “the most significant polarization of opinion in the last 10 years.”

Levada has conducted the poll since March 1992. In that time, regret for the Soviet collapse peaked in 2000 at 75 percent, but only fell below 50 percent once — in 2012.

Among those who said they regretted the Soviet collapse this year, a majority of respondents (52 percent) said they missed the loss of the single economic system of the 15-republic union, while 36 percent said they regretted that “people have lost the sense that they belong to a great power.”

Although the rise in nostalgia for the Soviet Union was recorded among all age groups over the past year, those in the 55 and older group traditionally expressed the most nostalgia.

Levada conducted the survey among 1,600 respondents in 52 Russian regions between Nov. 22 and Nov. 28.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more