| Once-mighty initials | 20 |
| Nation that dissolved in 1991 | 29 |
| Nation in Dec. 1991 news | 24 |
| Lenin's land, for short | 27 |
| Initials since 1922 | 19 |
| Gorby's former domain | 25 |
| Gorby's domain | 18 |
| Former world power, briefly | 27 |
| Former communist country, briefly | 33 |
| Five-Year Plan empire | 21 |
| Cold War principal | 18 |
| Cold War empire: Abbr. | 22 |
| Cold War adversary | 18 |
| CIS predecessor | 15 |
| Atlas abbr. until 1991 | 22 |
| 1984 summer Olympics no-show | 28 |
| "Evil empire" of the '80s | 39 |
| "Evil empire" initials | 32 |
| "Back in the ___" (Beatles hit) | 41 |
| '84 Olympics boycotter | 26 |
| World power until 1991: Abbr. | 29 |
| World power until '91 | 25 |
| Where Kazakhstan was, once | 26 |
| Where "the Ukraine girls really knock me out" | 55 |
| Warsaw Pact country (Abbr.) | 27 |
| Warsaw Pact country | 19 |
| U.S. ally in WWII | 17 |
| U.N. nation | 11 |
| Superpower that split up | 24 |
| START I treaty party | 20 |
| Stalin's land | 17 |
| Stalin's domain | 19 |
| Sputnik launcher (Abbr.) | 24 |
| Soyuz launcher | 14 |
| Soyuz 1 launcher | 16 |
| SALT signatory | 14 |
| Russia was part of it | 21 |
| Red power, initially | 20 |
| Red giant now in pieces? | 24 |
| Red giant now broken up | 23 |
| Reagan's "evil empire" | 36 |
| Pre-'91 superpower | 22 |
| One-time Red giant | 18 |
| Old map initials | 16 |
| Notable breakup of 1991 | 23 |
| Notable break-up of 1991 | 24 |
| Nikita's realm, once | 24 |
| Moscow was its cap. | 19 |
| Letters on an old Asian map | 27 |
| Letters for an ex-superpower | 28 |
| Lenin's land | 16 |
| Khrushchev's home | 21 |
| Khrushchev's country: Abbr. | 31 |
| Khrushchev's country | 24 |
| KGB's country | 17 |
| KGB whereabouts | 15 |
| KGB locale | 10 |
| KGB creator | 11 |
| J.F.K. adversary | 16 |
| It dissolved in December 1991 | 29 |
| It died in 1991 | 15 |
| It broke up in 1991: Abbr. | 26 |
| HUAC concern | 12 |
| Home of the K.G.B. | 18 |
| Gorby's domain, once | 24 |
| Gorbachev's land: Abbr. | 27 |
| Georgia used to be part of it | 29 |
| Former world power (Abbr.) | 26 |
| Former world power | 18 |
| Former U.N. power | 17 |
| Former Security Council member | 30 |
| Former Olympic team | 19 |
| Former empire | 13 |
| Former communist country | 24 |
| Extinct red giant | 17 |
| Country in a Beatles song | 25 |
| Cold-war adversary | 18 |
| Cold War foe, briefly | 21 |
| Cold War country (Abbr.) | 24 |
| CCCP, in English | 16 |
| Bygone U.N. member | 18 |
| Bygone atlas listing | 20 |
| Brezhnev's land, in brief | 29 |
| Boycotter of the '84 L.A. Olympics | 38 |
| Biggest breakup of 1991 | 23 |
| 20th-cen. superpower | 20 |
| 20th-c. nation | 14 |
| 1984 Summer Olympics boycotter | 30 |
| 1984 Olympics boycotter | 23 |
| 1979 Afghanistan invader: Abbr. | 31 |
| "Spies Like Us" setting | 33 |
| "Miracle on Ice" opponent | 35 |
| 'Back in the --' | 24 |
| ''Back in the ___'' (Beatles song) | 50 |
| ''Back in the ___'' | 35 |
| Zangief's country in "Street Fighter II" | 54 |
| Yalta conf. locale | 18 |
| World's largest oil producer | 32 |
| World's largest land | 24 |
| World's largest country | 27 |