MOSCOW -- Nearly three out of four Russians are sorry that the former communist Soviet Union has collapsed, according to the results of a new survey issued Monday.

In a recent poll among 2,000 Russians carried out nine years after the downfall of the Soviet Union, 73.5 percent of those questioned said they regretted that the USSR, once a world power, had ceased to exist, Interfax news agency reported.

Only 9.5 percent of those questioned by the Moscow-based Romir- Gallup Institute said they thought the decision of the former leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to dissolve the Soviet Union had been right.

A total of 63.5 percent said the collapse of the Soviet Union could have been prevented, while 25.3 percent said the process was even then irreversible.

Notwithstanding the reforms carried out since 1991 and the new freedoms for the people, 61.1 percent said they missed the "good old days", compared with 27.7 percent who said they prefer their life today.

The decision to dissolve the USSR was officially taken on December 8, 1991. Three weeks later the Soviet flag was lowered for the last time.