The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), established in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, has largely failed to fulfill the ambitions set out in its 1993 charter. Yet for Moscow, the organization remains a useful instrument for preserving Russia’s cultural and historical influence in Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
Eurasianet reports that the recent CIS summit in Awaza, Turkmenistan, marking the 35th anniversary of the organization’s formation, offered familiar rhetoric about its relevance and future. Russian President Vladimir Putin was reportedly among the most vocal advocates of the CIS, describing it as an influential regional integration organization.
His assessment contrasted with the organization’s long record of limited achievements and internal dysfunction.
From an economic perspective, the CIS has struggled to justify its continued existence. But for the Kremlin, its value extends beyond economic cooperation: it provides a regional platform for countering what Moscow sees as the erosion of Russia’s cultural and historical legacy in former Soviet republics.
Russia’s cultural influence under pressure
Putin’s remarks in Awaza reflected concern about Russia’s diminishing cultural influence across the former Soviet Union, according to Eurasianet.
He argued that the CIS had helped member states preserve and, in some areas, expand the social, cultural and humanitarian ties developed over centuries of living within a single state.
Russian president reportedly also described the Russian language as a powerful unifying force across the CIS and highlighted a Kremlin initiative launched in 2026 to preserve the shared Russian-language cultural heritage and promote the language.
However, Russian faces growing competition across Central Asia. Although it remains an important language for regional business, diplomacy and communication, English is gaining ground.
Eurasianet notes that among younger people in major cities such as Almaty, Astana and Tashkent, English and national languages are increasingly prominent. Outside major urban centers, some younger people have only a limited command of Russian.
Government policies in the region also reflect a gradual shift away from Russia’s linguistic and cultural influence. Kazakhstan has been moving toward the Latinization of its alphabet, while Uzbekistan has pursued the transition from Cyrillic to Latin script. Changes to the legal status of Russian and national language policies have also become part of broader debates about identity and sovereignty.
Revisiting the Soviet legacy
The reassessment of Russia’s influence extends beyond language to the interpretation of history.
Soviet historiography often portrayed Russian political, cultural and economic influence in Central Asia as a civilizing force. Increasingly, alternative interpretations emphasize the coercion and repression associated with Russian imperial and Soviet rule.
In Uzbekistan, the establishment of a state museum dedicated to the memory of victims of repression under Tsarist and Soviet rule reflects this changing approach to the past.
Kazakhstan and some other Central Asian countries have also reconsidered how they commemorate the Red Army’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, scaling back some celebrations.
These developments challenge a central element of Putin’s political narrative, which portrays the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as a major historical catastrophe and the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 as an enduring source of national pride.
Why historical memory matters to Moscow
Against this backdrop, one of the documents adopted at the Awaza summit stands out, Eurasianet reports, noting that among the 15 documents signed at the meeting, one specifically addresses the preservation of historical memory, including the memory of the Soviet peoples’ victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
The Kremlin reportedly highlighted the document in its official account of the summit, underscoring the importance Moscow attaches to maintaining a shared interpretation of the Soviet past.
Whether such declarations can reverse the erosion of Russia’s cultural influence across Central Asia remains uncertain. The region’s governments are pursuing their own national identities and foreign-policy priorities, while younger generations are increasingly exposed to languages, educational opportunities and cultural influences beyond Russia.
The effort also recalls a remark by former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin in 1993, when discussing Russia’s reform process: “We wanted the best, but it turned out as usual.”
For Moscow, the challenge is not simply to keep the CIS functioning as a regional organization, but to ensure that it continues to serve as a meaningful link between Russia and the countries that once formed part of the Soviet Union, Eurasianet noted.