MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti) – More than half of Russians regret the breakup of the Soviet Union and believe that it could have been avoided, a respected independent pollster said Tuesday.
A total of 57 percent of about 1,600 respondents polled by Levada Center in 45 Russian regions bemoaned the collapse of the Soviet Union, while 30 percent said they had no regrets about it. Thirteen percent had difficulty answering.
Elderly people tended to be more nostalgic that younger Russians. Only 37 percent of respondents aged 25 to 39 said they regretted the collapse of the USSR. That figure, however, reached 86 percent in the age group of 55 and older.
Only 29 percent of Russians said the breakup was inevitable, while 53 percent said it could have been avoided. The rest of the respondents were undecided.
The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist on December 26, 1991.
