The disintegration of the USSR was a natural consequence of the Soviet national policy aimed at accelerating the modernization of the Union republics and equalizing their levels of development. By launching the process of the de-Russification (‘korenizatsiya') of managerial personnel, Moscow has contributed to the formation of modern national elites on the ground. The implementation of the national-state construction project led to the nationalization of ethnic and interethnic relations and the sovereignization of the Union republics, a key factor in the collapse of the USSR.