People & Histories
24 August & 1 December 1991

Independence

Ukraine declares independence as the USSR collapses, then confirms it overwhelmingly by referendum.

  • Referendum (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • Ukraine: A History (4th ed.) — Orest Subtelny, University of Toronto Press (2009)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)

Well established statehoodidentitydemocracy

The road to 1991

Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms of the late 1980s opened space that Ukrainians quickly used. Released political prisoners revived the Ukrainian Helsinki group, and a broad popular movement, Rukh, campaigned for democracy, the Ukrainian language and sovereignty.

  • History of Ukraine (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)
  • The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
The Chornobyl cover-up had already badly damaged trust in Moscow.
  • History of Ukraine (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine — Serhii Plokhy, Basic Books (2015)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)

Even so, independence was not a foregone conclusion. In March 1991, 70.2% of voters in Soviet Ukraine backed a “renewed” USSR in an all-Union referendum, while 80.2% backed Ukrainian sovereignty within it, an ambiguous result.

  • Referendum (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)

August

Everything changed with the failed hardline coup against Gorbachev in Moscow on 19 August 1991. Five days later, on 24 August, Ukraine’s parliament, still dominated by Communists, declared independence, subject to a referendum in December.

Primary source Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine · 24 August 1991

“…in view of the mortal danger that hung over Ukraine in connection with the coup d’état in the USSR on 19 August 1991, continuing the thousand-year tradition of state-building in Ukraine, … the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic solemnly proclaims the independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state – UKRAINE. The territory of Ukraine is indivisible and inviolable.” (Translated from the Ukrainian.)

December

On 1 December 1991, on a turnout of 84.2%, 90.3% of voters endorsed the Act. On the same day they elected Leonid Kravchuk as the first president.

  • Referendum (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • Ukraine: A History (4th ed.) — Orest Subtelny, University of Toronto Press (2009)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)
A majority of those voting said yes in every region, even in Crimea (54%), where the margin was narrowest; there and in Sevastopol, the yes vote fell short of a majority of all registered voters.
  • The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine — Serhii Plokhy, Basic Books (2015)
  • The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
  • Ukraine: A History (4th ed.) — Orest Subtelny, University of Toronto Press (2009)
The result sealed the fate of the Soviet Union. Without Ukraine a meaningful union was impossible, and within weeks the USSR was dissolved.

A hard start

The new state inherited Soviet institutions and a Soviet-trained elite. The 1990s brought hyperinflation, collapsing living standards and the rise of a handful of oligarchs.

  • History of Ukraine (Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine) — Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (signed entries by subject specialists), Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (2024)
  • The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation (5th ed.) — Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press (2022)
  • Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation — Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press (2007)

A contested meaning

For most Ukrainians, 1991 restored a statehood whose roots they trace to Kyivan Rus’ and the Cossacks, as the Act’s own words about a “thousand-year tradition” make clear.

Russia’s leadership now tells a different story, describing modern Ukraine as “entirely created by Russia or, to be more precise, by Bolshevik, Communist Russia”.

How it's seen
How Ukrainians see it

The restoration of a statehood with a thousand-year tradition, freely chosen by an overwhelming majority, with majorities of voters in every region.

How Russia's leadership now presents it

Modern Ukraine as an artificial creation of Bolshevik Russia, carved out of "historically Russian land".

Why it matters today

Ukraine

Independence is recent and hard-won. Many Ukrainians alive today remember a time without a state of their own, which is why defending it carries such weight. Independence Day, 24 August, is the main national holiday.