This article examines how Soviet nationalities policy shaped post-Soviet ethnic conflicts. It argues that Soviet ethnofederalism—while promoting nominal autonomy—entrenched ethnic identities and borders, enabling later fragmentation. Using a structural-historical approach, it traces continuities in institutions, elite networks, and symbolic geographies from the USSR to contemporary disputes. Case studies from Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh show how autonomy structures fostered secessionist mobilization. Crimea and Donbas illustrate how Russia has revived Soviet-era institutions and narratives for geopolitical aims. The study reconceptualizes Soviet federalism as a legacy regime, highlighting durable path dependency in identity, legitimacy, and violence, and challenging collapse-as-rupture narratives in favor of continuity in post-imperial politics.

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• Sociology - Social Sciences
• Law - Social Sciences
• Political Science - Social Sciences
• Social and Economic Geography - Social Sciences
• Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences
• History and Archeology - Humanities
• Philosophy, Ethics and Religion - Humanities
• Anthropology - Social Sciences