Survey Suggests 56% of Russians Regret the Collapse of the USSR
More than half of all Russians regret the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and only 3% saw this event as a positive, according to a survey by the Levada Center.
According to the survey, 19% of Russians think "very negatively" about the disintegration of the Soviet Union and 25% view this event "rather negatively."
Although 54% of Russian citizens regret the collapse of the USSR, 37% indicated they "have no regrets." However, 51% of Russians believe that the collapse of the Soviet Union could have been avoided, while 39% still say that such an outcome was inevitable.
The events of the 90’s were viewed as positive by only 18%, while 26% of the respondents were undecided about the outcome of those events.
According to the survey, the number of Boris Yeltsin supporters in 1993 decreased almost threefold, only being supported by 37% of the people that year; although, the number of critics over the years hasn't changed.
The Levada Center study surveyed 1,600 people from 48 different regions. The survey was timed to coincide with the birthday of Boris Yeltsin. On February 1st, 2016, he would have turned 85 years old. The politician died on April 23, 2007, due to heart failure.