My grandfather told me about a "video call" possibility in the Soviet Union during the 70s-80s. How likely is that the Soviets had the technology needed and would offer the possibility to the public?

I'm not an expert, and this is my first attempt at a real answer here.

It seems this sort of video calling was first done in some German post offices, in 1936!

Here's a short tidbit from nature that talks about this first video calling: https://www.nature.com/articles/137391a0

from wikipedia's article on the history of videotelephony, and more specifically this section on systems in other countries, it seems many countries were developing similar technologies in the 70s. I didn't find anything specific to the USSR, but it doesn't seem far-fetched.

/r/AskHistorians Thread