Today marks 25 years since the referendum on whether to preserve the Soviet Union

More than half of Russians (64%) would vote to maintain the Soviet Union if a referendum were held today, according to the results of the All-Russia Public Opinion Center (VTsIOM), reports Russian state owned news agency TASS.

"Twenty-five years after the referendum on preserving the USSR was held [March 17, 1991], most citizens have again answered in the affirmative. Vox Populi Vox Dei? "According to the data of the USSR central electoral commission, 78% of those USSR citizens who voted [71% in the Russian Federation] ticked off the 'yes' box . Today 64% of Russians say they would vote for preserving the Soviet Union," the pollster said.

The maximum number of positive answers (81%) came from supporters of Russia's Communist Party (KPRF). This figure increases from 47% among those18-24 to 76% among respondents age 60 and more, VTsIOM said.

Only 20% of Russian citizens would vote negatively for preserving the Soviet Union, according to the poll results.

A minority of today’s Russia blame last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (27%) and his team for failing to implement the general will expressed at the referendum to preserve the Soviet Union, the supreme authorities in general (17%), first Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his close associates (13%), according to the poll.

Only 2% of respondents pointed to the influence of the United States and other Western countries, and only 1% of those polled said there was no one to blame for the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

However, many respondents (40%) were hesitant to answer the question of who was to blame for the demise of the USSR, the pollster said.

VTsIOM held its poll on March 5-6, 2016, polling 1,600 people in 130 populated areas in 46 Russian regions, territories and republics, with a statistical margin of error of no more than 3.5%.