Artyom came to Canada from Kazakhstan. Until 1991 Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union. Soviet Union existed for 70 years, after which all of the republics within it got their independence. When that happened Artyom was still a child. He did not witness first hand most of the life in USSR, but he knows pretty well about it via his parents/relatives/friends. In totalitarian USSR people had virtually no rights and liberties. The all-powerful communist party leadership had control over lives of millions of people. KGB (the main security agency for the Soviet Union) always tried to find and punish anyone who disagreed with the soviet regime.