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Soviet Collapse Anniversary Passes
December 25, 2001
By SARAH KARUSH
MOSCOW (AP) - Ten years after Mikhail Gorbachev closed the book on the Soviet Union, the anniversary Tuesday went almost unnoticed in the Russian capital. For many, the day the red flag atop the Kremlin was replaced by the Russian tricolor was a day of loss they prefer not to dwell on.
On Dec. 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. He handed over the so-called nuclear suitcase - containing the codes and communication equipment for launching the country's nuclear missiles - to Russian President Boris Yeltsin. It marked the end of a process that had been accelerating since the previous August, when pro-Yeltsin forces defeated an attempted coup by Communist hardliners.
In a country that loves anniversaries, the date was noted by only one major newspaper. NTV television ran a documentary about the Soviet Union's final days, but most channels didn't mention it during their news broadcasts.
Asked what anniversary fell Tuesday, most people approached on Red Square were stumped. Once reminded, many recalled feeling deep anxiety as they watched Gorbachev give his farewell speech on national television.
``There was a certain amount of fear. The young people were happy, but I wasn't young,'' said retiree Nina Kuznetsova as she strolled with her friend across the snow-dusted square.
Poverty and social instability over the past decade have made many Russians nostalgic for the Soviet Union.
According to the ROMIR polling agency, 55 percent of Russians believe life was better before 1991. The number of those polled or margin of error weren't given.
``The worst thing is that there is no stability. You have no idea what will happen tomorrow,'' said engineer Valery Pugachyov. ``There's more freedom for creative people, for intellectuals, but there's also more freedom for criminals.''
Many Russians who approve of the end of Communist rule still lament the Soviet collapse. Having grown up in one country, they find it difficult to suddenly feel patriotic about a new one.
``Reforming it (the country) was necessary; breaking it wasn't,'' Pugachyov said.
``We lost our homeland, as it seemed to us then,'' said Alexander, a 47-year-old St. Petersburg resident who declined to give his last name. ``I never recall this anniversary without feeling pain. It wasn't necessary to destroy everything to achieve well-being.''
Despite the nostalgia, many concede that there are some advantages to life after 1991. Moscow has become a colorful, world-class capital. Gone are the lines for sought-after consumer goods. People have greater freedom to say and do what they want.
In a sign the pluses are beginning to outweigh the minuses in Russians' minds, nostalgia has been waning in recent years, ROMIR reported. The number of people who prefer the present over the pre-1991 era increased to 32.6 percent this year from 21.8 percent in 1999.
``Things change,'' said Yuri Ryumkunasov, rushing past the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, where long lines of admirers waiting to see him have disappeared. ``You have to accept life as it is.''
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