The number of Russians who regret the collapse of the Soviet Union is the highest in nearly a decade, according to an independent Levada Center poll published Monday.
In polls taken since 1992, an average two-thirds of respondents said they lamented the collapse of the USSR, peaking at 75 percent in 2000 and dipping to 49 percent in 2012.
The 58 percent of respondents who said they were upset about the fall of Communism in the latest poll made up the highest figure since 2009, according to the pollster.
The majority of those who were unhappy with the collapse of the USSR said they missed a unified economic system. They were followed by respondents who said that people "lost the feeling that they belonged to a great power.” Others cited a rise in “mutual distrust and bitterness."
Broken down demographically, nostalgia towards the Soviet Union is most likely to be expressed by older respondents. Only 20 percent of people in the 18-24 age group said they expressed regret about the breakup of the USSR, while 42 percent said they didn’t. In the 25-34 age group, there was parity, while groups aged 35-54 and 55 or older had the highest number of respondents who said they felt regret.
The survey was carried out between Nov. 24-Nov. 28 among 1,600 people in 48 Russian regions.
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