and they were really independence movements that were active there. by 1990, the group called the roof had developed and they were the independent movements grew and grew. what collapse the soviet union? many factors, principally economic, a technological, social. but in 1991, the ukrainian people were given a referendum, whether they wanted to be independent or not. over 90% of ukrainians, not just people in the west and in lviv, or intellectuals in kyiv, but all over the country including the east, which russia now claims for its help voted for independence. and weeks later, that was the final straw. weeks later the soviet union collapsed. it was over. an empire was over. and what putin yearns for is not the return of communist ideology, in fact he's been critical of london.