61.   But he continues to enjoy little political support in Russia, where he is blamed for the Soviet collapse and the often chaotic years of transition.

62.   But the Soviet collapse led to strains in those ties, as Moscow insisted on hard-currency payments.

63.   But since the Soviet collapse, money troubles have humbled the program.

64.   But the government, dealing with its worst economic crisis since the Soviet collapse, has dragged its feet on funding efforts to fix the problem.

65.   But the ideological vacuum left by the Soviet collapse also is being filled by unorthodox churches and self-styled gurus.

66.   But the problem has exploded amid the economic crisis that has followed the Soviet collapse.

67.   But the Soviet collapse also brought economic misery, separatist wars and decline in nearly every industry.

68.   But today, in a country much changed since the Soviet collapse, politics are now second to economics.

69.   But the ideological vacuum left by the Soviet collapse also is being filled by improvised churches and self-styled gurus.

70.   By contrast, since the Soviet collapse, the day has become an important day for anti-government protests, especially for communists and hard-liners.