A 2013 US-based Gallup has concluded that when reflecting back on the breakup of the Soviet Union (1991), residents in seven countries that were part of the union are more likely to believed its collapse harmed their countries than benefited them.

The poll was conducted in 11 of the 15 former Soviet republics. Questions not asked in Uzbekistan, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.

"Only Azerbaijanis, Kazakhstanis, and Turkmens are more likely to see benefit than harm from the breakup. Georgians are divided," the Institute for Sociological Surveys reported.

The results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 1,000 adults aged 15 and over.

Overall, residents of these former Soviet republics are more than twice as likely to say the breakup hurt (51%) than benefited their countries (24%).

The article said that life has not been easy for many: residents there have lived through wars, revolutions, coups, territorial disputes, and multiple economic collapses.

"However, this is also the prevailing opinion in Russia, which continues to exert considerable economic and political influence over its former republics.", wrote Gallup.

    Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat