The Last Soviet Citizen
The only man to remain a citizen of the USSR even after its breakup
The collapse of the Soviet Union shook our world and changed it forever. The long-fought Cold War finally came to an end after Boris Yeltsin’s successful grab for power. The transition from the union to independence wasn’t peaceful, with many states fighting for land to which they had claims on before they were puppeted by the old communist empire, a fight which continues to this day in some of these post-USSR states.
Upon the collapse of the USSR most Soviet citizens, more specifically those who lived in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, became citizens of the newly formed Russian federation. This was the case for all but one man who wasn’t present when the switch happened and remained a citizen of the USSR long after its collapse.
The Space Race
After the United States landed on the moon on 16 July 1969 the Space Race cooled down. Cooperation between the two nations became more frequent with the landmark Apollo-Soyuz mission happening only six years later. As the years went on and the countries went into the period of ‘détente’ in the latter stages of the 20th century.
