How many Soviet republics were there?

What a great Soviet art it was... It's still a pleasure to watch films like "Dog's Heart," "Ivan Vasilievich Changes Profession," "Kidnapping, Caucasian Style," and others. It's still a pleasure to read Ilf and Petrov, Kataev, and the Strugatsky brothers. And when I listen to songs like "My Bright Little Star," "We Wish You Happiness," and "Good Omens," I feel like this is my true heritage.
And science: spaceflight, peaceful atom, devices that still work better than modern Western ones. Remember the "Vega" tape recorders? Mine still works, although new imported ones break down every two years.
And ten years of school, where children didn't put their feet on the desks, didn't stick chewing gum under the desks, stood up when answering, and didn't say, "My dad will buy all of you."
And thinkers. After all, the best thinkers are always formed in the struggle against the system. If there were no system, there would be no Panarin, Zinoviev, Kagarlicky, or Gumilev.
And rock music? What would it criticize if there were no Soviet Union? Can you listen to modern rock, whose songs are written in a rather uninspired way, without disgust?
Although, of course, there were also bad things. But queues appeared only during perestroika. And during the period of "stagnation," there was a massive growth. The country's population increased by 60 million! And now? Housing construction under Brezhnev reached its maximum scale! Think about it: in a country with a population of 200 million, free apartments were provided! And now, when the population is less than 140 million, how many can afford to buy an apartment in new buildings?