Where did nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union turn out to be the strongest during the Cold War, contrary to expectations?

Russia, the Baltic areas, Ukraine, and Georgia

The nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more "European" and prosperous areas, including Russia, the Baltic areas, Ukraine, and Georgia.

Ironically, during the Cold War, many thought that nationalist unrest would be strongest in the Central Asian republics given their ethnic and religious differences with the rest of the Soviet Union and their economic backwardness. However, as things turned out nationalist dissatisfaction with the Soviet Union was strongest in the more “European” and prosperous part – in Russia and the Baltic areas as well as Ukraine and Georgia. Ordinary people here felt alienated from the Central Asians and from each other and concluded also that they were paying too high an economic price to keep the more backward areas within the Soviet Union.