In the USSR it used to come second, after the Russian Republic, as far as the number of inhabitants and economic development went. Even today Russia remains close and important for the inhabitants of south eastern Ukraine: many of them speak Russian and in Donietsk or Lugansk the Soviet holidays are still significant in the community life. The nostalgia for the old times is palpable throughout the country, the omnipresent symbols of power remind the people about the citizens' subservient position to the state apparatus.