Any non-Russian citizen of former Comecon countries or former Soviet republics will agree that the USSR was imperialist, and will probably spit or swear when doing so :)
This is true as far as the Baltics go, but a lot of people in the non-Russian CIS rue the day the USSR fell. Armenia, Uzbekistan, Georgia all had their economies ripped to shreds when the coordinated production system of the USSR was shattered. Belarus is actually attempting to unite with Russia, while Ukraine has observer status in the Russia-Belarusian Union process and Moldova under the new Communist government wants unification (which is impossible because it's separated by the Trans-Dniestr). The governments of Uzbekistan, Georgia under Bloody Eduard Shevardnadze, etc. are anti-Russian, but a lot of the population outside of ultra-nationalists thinks being close to Russia is absolutely necessary. This is just anecdotal, but it is very rare that I meet an Armenian or Caucasian who doesn't mourn the demise of the Soviet Union. And I live in Moscow, where living standards are about 10 times as high as in Armenia.
BTW, one reason that Russia is being so accommodating seems to be that the Kremlin thinks that, as the one ally the US absolutely needs in its attacks on Afghanistan, it will be able to reestablish its influence over the other FSU republics. Shevardnadze, who is in a serious political crisis at the moment, is used to getting American backing. Which seems to have dried up for some reason...
Chris Doss The Russia Journal