Leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev bring back memories of a significant moment in history: the beginning of the Russian Federation and the end of the Soviet Union. This period was filled with intense changes and uncertainties.

Many people focused on the challenges during the collapse of the Soviet Union without considering the long-term consequences of their actions. It is hard to imagine that back then, no one truly understood the implications of the decisions and how they would eventually relate to the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Today, we see a tragic reality where countless we see a sad reality where countless Russian soldiers are losing their lives in a conflict that many would not have foreseen during those early days of transformation.

Such leaders as Mikhail Gorbachev remind me of the beginning of the Russian Federation and the collapse of the Soviet Union. During that time, no one even thought how many Russian Soldiers would die in Ukraine today.

And now, after the war in Ukraine started, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech reminds us how he traveled back to the USSR again. Putin’s speech today, when the 2023 New Year started, described Ukrainians and Russians, as well as Eastern Ukraine, as part of Russia, describing me differently from back in the USSR meaning. That’s how “Back in the USSR” by the Beatles reminds me of those days and my childhood when we spent at the Black Sea; and now, when I work as Strategist in the United States, I am still asking myself how the Soviet Union, the largest country fall?