My impression in Ukraine was most people were more happy with living in the USSR rather than after the fall of the Soviet state. I base this on the fact that after Rosh Hashanah in Uman , i stayed there for long periods and whenever i went to the local markets i asked people if they were happy that the USSR was gone. And the answer was always the same except for two people. Everyone said ''Things were better under the USSR.'' The two people that disagreed with this were  a good friend of mine. The other was the home owner of the place I was staying at for seven years. He was of Tartar decent so I can see why his feelings would have been different.