Putin wishes Soviet Union had not collapsed

[Vega]

Like hating gays, missing the Soviet Union is very popular in Russia.

I truly adore your uninformed takes on geopolitical events and opinions.

[Vega]

Like hating gays, missing the Soviet Union is very popular in Russia.

I truly adore your uninformed takes on geopolitical events and opinions.

He's not wrong. You don't have to be a communist to miss the USSR, as many in Russia tend to look back at the Soviet Union as the pinnacle of the country's power and influence.

Beside, there was a chance for the USSR to continue as a non-communist entity (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Sovereign_States), as Gorbachev and his allies fully realized the system had failed. However, the August Coup and its fallout ended such hopes.

Of course, but how much of that is the universal sentiment "things being better back then" vs. whole hearted support of the Soviet Union and all that it stood for?