Ukraine's 1991 independence referendum, with 92% approval, ended any realistic prospect of preserving the Soviet Union and led directly to its dissolution.
Key Facts
- Voter turnout
- 84.18% of the electorate
- Registered voters participating
- 31,891,742
- Yes votes
- 28,804,071 (92.3%)
- Original independence declaration
- 24 August 1991 by Verkhovna Rada
- International recognition
- From 2 December 1991
- First President elected
- Leonid Kravchuk
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The failed August 1991 coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of negotiations over a New Union Treaty prompted Ukraine's parliament to adopt a formal Act of Declaration of Independence on 24 August 1991. A public referendum was called to ratify this act and give it democratic legitimacy.
On 1 December 1991, Ukrainian citizens voted on whether to confirm the Act of Declaration of Independence. Over 31.8 million voters participated, representing 84.18% of the electorate, and 92.3% voted in favour of independence. Simultaneously, a presidential election was held, resulting in Leonid Kravchuk becoming Ukraine's first president.
From 2 December 1991, Ukraine received broad international recognition as an independent state, including from Boris Yeltsin's Russia. Kravchuk subsequently co-signed the Belavezha Accords, formally declaring the Soviet Union dissolved. The USSR officially ceased to exist on 26 December 1991.
Political Outcome
92.3% of voters approved Ukrainian independence; Ukraine recognised internationally from 2 December 1991; Soviet Union dissolved 26 December 1991.
Ukraine as a Soviet republic within the USSR
Ukraine as an internationally recognised independent sovereign state