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Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee takes part in the First Meeting of the Historical and Legal Club dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the USSR formation

Mr. Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, took part in the meeting on the topic "Theoretical, methodological and historical and legal foundations of the formation of the USSR: dedicated to the 100th anniversary of its creation"; The meeting was organized by the Historical and Legal Club together with the Center for Scientific Research of the All-Russian State University of Justice (RLA of the Ministry of Justice of Russia).

The rector of the All-Russian State University of Justice (RLA of the Ministry of Justice of Russia), Ms. Olga Ivanovna Alexandrova, opened the event, where she noted that the goals of creating the club are to study scientific problems and discuss debatable issues of the theory and history of the state, to promote the patriotic, intellectual and spiritual development of students.

Among the issues that were brought up for discussion are the causes and prerequisites for the formation of the USSR, attempts to expand the USSR in the 30-40s of the 20th century, the model of Soviet justice, the collapse of the Union and its consequences.

The Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee highlighted the historical facts related to the process of creation and subsequent disintegration of the USSR. Belarus, Ukraine and the Republics of Transcaucasia were the first to join the RSFSR. The right of peoples to self-determination was proclaimed the most important principle, and the ultimate goal was the creation of the World Union of Communist Republics. Mr. A.I. Bastrykin noted that the National Emblem adopted by the USSR was the only one in the whole world on which the entire globe was depicted but the borders of the state were not marked. Over the next 35 years, the number of republics increased from 4 to 15. The USSR occupied almost 1⁄6 of the Earth's habitable land mass with a population of 293 million at the time of its disintegration.

The Head of the Department recalled that the principles underlying the USSR made it possible to gain unique achievements in State building; it bacame possible to lead the peoples of the country onto the path of economic, social and cultural progress. "The USSR became the first country in the world where, workers began to be provided with paid leave, starting from 1918" Mr. A.I. emphasized. Bastrykin. He added: "The man of labor was at the first place in the USSR."

The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia noted that space exploration was the greatest achievement of the Soviet Union. In addition, the USSR launched the Tu-144 supersonic passenger liner for the first time in the world, and the USSR also created aircraft with a high carrying capacity of up to 250 tons, the first in the world too.

"The USSR had a huge weight on the world political arena and was recognized as a Superpower," the Head of the Department emphasized. With all this, the Soviet Union became the first country to show the whole world that atomic energy must be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Mr. A.I. Bastrykin also mentioned the sports and cultural achievements of the Great Country.

The Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee paid considerable attention to the issues of the ideology of equality and brotherhood of peoples, emphasizing that this principle allowed the USSR to remain a multinational state: people of different nationalities lived in peace and friendship, working for the common good of the country. The course and results of the unprecedented scale, fierce and uncompromising Great Patriotic War showed that the strength of the people who defeated fascism is in its unity, spiritual solidarity, regardless of nationality and religion, in the justice of those goals in the name of which the armed struggle was waged.

On March 17, 1991, a referendum was held on the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In accordance with the official results, 148,574,606 people or 80.03% of the total number of voters took part in it, of which 113,512,812 people (76.4%) answered the referendum question in the affirmative, 32,303,977 (21.7%) - negatively. Despite this, on December 8, 1991, after the signing of the Belovezhskaya Agreement by the heads of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to significant geopolitical consequences that we face to this day. The events in Ukraine are one of such consequences, entailing human casualties and massive destruction.

Mr. A.I. Bastrykin noted that it is necessary to learn lessons from the historical events of our country, draw the necessary conclusions and take additional measures aimed at strengthening statehood, legal regulation and international cooperation with friendly countries, as well as borrow positive Soviet experience in various areas of society (education, healthcare, youth work).

At the end of his speech, the Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee answered the students' questions and thanked all the participants of the meeting for an interesting discussion.