This nostalgia for the past for a political leader is self-destructive, dangerous and politically stupid. For Russia to be successfull it need to develop democratic institutions. Russia should offer willing Russians/Russian Speakers who live outside of Russian Federation, an opportunity to immigrate to Russia under favorable conditions. The millions of Russian Speakers living outside of Russian Federation could become invaluable asset to Russia that is experiencing very serious demographic problems.
I disagree with Putin that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the Twentieth Century.
Communism killed one hundred million and so is a strong contender.
Hitler's war/genocide must at least tie for the award.
Putin is now on a threshhold of great possibility, freed of territorial imperatives and totalitarian constraints.
He should be looking to a free and prosperous future.
If he chooses to look to the past, he should be arranging reparations for the tens of millions of victims of the Soviet Union.
The major feature of Christianity is the eternal prospect of salvation, which is surely preferable to any nostalgia for past empire.