The failure of the Russian army in Afghanistan and the body bags of dead family members are thought to have helped turn the civilian population of Russia against the army and against the regime. Posters here who reviled me some weeks ago for asking about the body bags in this conflict might consider at my motives. The UN has recently heard messages from confused young Russian soldiers. This is the most likely route for popular support for regime change . Gorbachev didn’t survive as leader of the USSR after he was forced by popular opinion to withdraw Russian troops from Afghanistan