thehistoricalfrontier
Boris Yeltsin 22 August 1991 1, illustrating event-soviet-dissolution

MOSCOW. A meeting was held at noon on 22 August 1991 near the RSFSR House of the Soviets in honour of the victory of Russian democracy over the reaction and was attended by many thousands of people. The tricolour Russian flag flew on the podium and it was on that very day that it acquired the status of a Russian state symbol. Russian President Boris Yeltsin ITAR-TASS. CC BY 4.0.

Historical event

Dissolution of the Soviet Union

26 December 1991

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist after republican independence movements, political conflict and economic crisis.

Overview

The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist after republican independence movements, political conflict and economic crisis. Its causes, participants and consequences connect this record to the wider Cold War guide, where the event is placed in chronology rather than treated as an isolated date.

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People connected to this event

Mikhail Gorbachev1931–2022

Sources and further reading