On November 24 2009, Azerbaijan became the first ex-Soviet country to open the Russian Book House store.
Some of the Baltic Russians, mainly those who had come to live in the region not long before the three countries regained independence in 1991, remigrated to Russia and other ex-Soviet countries in the early 1990s.
Tajikistan's richer fellow ex-Soviet Central Asian countries Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan also closed their borders to Afghan refugees.
On a recent afternoon, Gannushkina's office was packed with migrants - men and women from ex-Soviet countries seeking to find a better life, and work, in Russia.
Armenia and Russia are both members of a military alliance called the CSTO along with four other ex-soviet countries, a relationship that Armenia finds essential to its security.
In theory, they belong to the Commonwealth of Independent States, the ever-more-shadowy grouping of ex-Soviet countries, and are guarded by KGB special troops on its behalf.
Twenty-four countries made their Olympic debut this year, including eleven of the ex-Soviet countries that competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992.
As far as I take it U-stan is a typical ex-soviet country that likes to keep tabs on foreigners so I imagine i'll have to join a tour, but here's hoping!
Nowadays, this car is very popular among rally drivers in ex-Soviet and other European countries.