This hit home for me since home is now Kyiv. Ukraine is shaking off its Soviet past and as my wife (native of Belarus) stated: "Ukraine is like a baby just learning to walk and inevitably wants to runs back into the arms of its parent." Don't even get me started on the Holodomor here. Also, gulag type prisons existed prior to the Soviets and part of that experience is what formed Dostoevsky's views after his experience in Siberia and near execution. Very well stated piece. Thank you.