MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Moscow's geopolitical opponents started to brainwash people across the post-Soviet space, including Ukraine, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Our geopolitical rivals began to use - I do not want to offend anyone, but nevertheless I will say it - everything in sight for their own purposes. They began to engage in brainwashing in the countries of the post-Soviet space and, above all, in Ukraine. And they did it quite successfully," the president said.

He said the opponents were well-prepared for that because back in the Soviet times they "had entire institutes working in that direction."