The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, formed in 1922, was created by the leadership of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) as the basis for the future world revolution. The declaration of its formation stated that the Union would be “a decisive step towards uniting the working people of all countries into the World Socialist Soviet Republic.”

To attract as many socialist republics as possible into the USSR, in the first (and all subsequent) Soviet constitutions, each of them was assigned the right to freely secede from the Soviet Union. In particular, in the last Basic Law of the USSR - the Constitution of 1977 - this norm was enshrined in Article 72. Since 1956, the Soviet state included 15 union republics.

Reasons for the collapse of the USSR

From a legal point of view, the USSR was an asymmetrical federation (its subjects had different statuses) with elements of a confederation. At the same time, the union republics were in an unequal position. In particular, the RSFSR did not have its own Communist Party or Academy of Sciences; the republic was also the main donor of financial, material and human resources for the other members of the Union.

The unity of the Soviet state system was ensured by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). It was built on a strict hierarchical principle and duplicated all state bodies of the Union. In Art. 6 of the Basic Law of the USSR of 1977, the Communist Party was assigned the status of “the leading and guiding force of Soviet society, the core of its political system, state and public organizations.”

By 1980 The USSR found itself in a state of systemic crisis. A significant part of the population has lost faith in the dogmas of the officially declared communist ideology. The economic and technological lag of the USSR from Western countries became apparent. As a result of the national policy of the Soviet government, independent national elites were formed in the union and autonomous republics of the USSR.

An attempt to reform the political system during the years of perestroika 1985-1991. led to the aggravation of all existing contradictions. In 1988-1990 On the initiative of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev, the role of the CPSU was significantly weakened. In 1988, the reduction of the party apparatus began, and a reform of the electoral system was carried out. In 1990, the Constitution was amended and Art. 6, as a result of which the CPSU was completely separated from the state. At the same time, inter-republican relations were not subject to revision, which led, against the backdrop of weakening party structures, to a sharp increase in separatism in the union republics.

According to a number of researchers, one of the key decisions during this period was Mikhail Gorbachev’s refusal to equalize the status of the RSFSR with other republics. As Assistant Secretary General Anatoly Chernyaev recalled, Gorbachev “ironly” stood against the creation of the Communist Party of the RSFSR and the granting of full status to the Russian republic." Such a measure, according to a number of historians, could contribute to the unification of Russian and allied structures and ultimately preserve a single state.

Interethnic clashes

During the years of perestroika in the USSR, interethnic relations sharply worsened. In 1986, major interethnic clashes occurred in Yakutsk and Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR, now Kazakhstan). In 1988 The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began, during which the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region populated by Armenians announced its secession from the Azerbaijan SSR. This was followed by the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict. In 1989, clashes began in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, South Ossetia, etc. By mid-1990, more than 600 thousand citizens of the USSR became refugees or internally displaced persons.

"Parade of Sovereignties"

In 1988, a movement for independence began in the Baltic states. It was led by the “popular fronts” - mass movements created with the permission of the Union authorities in support of perestroika.

On November 16, 1988, the Supreme Council (SC) of the Estonian SSR adopted a declaration on the state sovereignty of the republic and introduced changes to the republican constitution, which made it possible to suspend the operation of union laws on the territory of the Estonia. On May 26 and July 28, 1989, similar acts were adopted by the Armed Forces of the Lithuanian and Latvian SSR. On March 11 and 30, 1990, the Armed Forces of Lithuania and Estonia adopted laws on the restoration of their own independent states, and on May 4, the Parliament of Latvia approved the same act.

On September 23, 1989, the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR adopted a constitutional law on the state sovereignty of the republic. During 1990, similar acts were adopted by all other union republics.

Law on the withdrawal of union republics from the USSR

On April 3, 1990, the USSR Supreme Council adopted the law “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR.” According to the document, such a decision was to be made through a referendum appointed by the local legislative body. Moreover, in a union republic, which included autonomous republics, regions and districts, a plebiscite had to be held separately for each autonomy.

A decision to withdraw was considered legitimate if it was supported by at least two-thirds of voters. Issues of the status of allied military facilities, enterprises, and financial and credit relations of the republic with the center were subject to settlement during a transition period of five years. In practice, the provisions of this law were not implemented.

Proclamation of the sovereignty of the RSFSR

The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR was adopted on June 12, 1990 by the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Republic. In the second half of 1990, the leadership of the RSFSR, headed by Chairman of the Supreme Council Boris Yeltsin, significantly expanded the powers of the government, ministries and departments of the RSFSR. Enterprises, branches of union banks, etc. located on its territory were declared the property of the republic.

On December 24, 1990, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopted a law according to which Russian authorities could suspend the operation of union acts “if they violate the sovereignty of the RSFSR.” It was also stipulated that all decisions of the authorities of the USSR would come into force on the territory of the Russian republic only after their ratification by its Supreme Council. At a referendum on March 17, 1991, the post of president of the republic was introduced in the RSFSR (Boris Yeltsin was elected on June 12, 1991). In May 1991, its own special service was created - the State Security Committee (KGB) of the RSFSR.

New Union Treaty

At the last XXVIII Congress of the CPSU on July 2-13, 1990, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev announced the need to sign a new Union Treaty. On December 3, 1990, the USSR Supreme Council supported the project proposed by Gorbachev. The document provided for a new concept of the USSR: each republic included in its composition received the status of a sovereign state. The allied authorities retained a narrow scope of powers: organizing defense and ensuring state security, developing and implementing foreign policy, economic development strategies, etc.

On December 17, 1990, at the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev proposed “to hold a referendum throughout the country so that every citizen would speak for or against the Union of Sovereign States on a federal basis.” Nine of the 15 union republics took part in the vote on March 17, 1991: the RSFSR, the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Uzbek, Azerbaijan, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Turkmen SSR. The authorities of Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Estonia refused to hold a vote. 80% of citizens who had the right to do so took part in the referendum. 76.4% of voters were in favor of preserving the Union, 21.7% were against.

As a result of the plebiscite, a new draft of the Union Treaty was developed. On its basis, from April 23 to July 23, 1991, at the residence of the President of the USSR in Novo-Ogarevo, negotiations were held between Mikhail Gorbachev and the presidents of nine of the 15 union republics (RSFSR, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Azerbaijan, Tajik, Kyrgyz and Turkmen USSR) on the creation of the Union of Sovereign States. They were called the “Novogarevsky process”. According to the agreement, the abbreviation “USSR” in the name of the new federation was to be retained, but deciphered as: “Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics.” In July 1991, the negotiators approved the draft agreement as a whole and scheduled its signing for the time of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR in September-October 1991.

On July 29-30, Mikhail Gorbachev held closed meetings with the leaders of the RSFSR and Kazakh SSR Boris Yeltsin and Nursultan Nazarbayev, during which he agreed to postpone the signing of the document to August 20. The decision was caused by fears that the USSR people's deputies would vote against the treaty, which envisaged the creation of a de facto confederal state in which most powers were transferred to the republics. Gorbachev also agreed to dismiss a number of senior leaders of the USSR who had a negative attitude towards the “Novoogaryov process”, in particular, Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov and others.

On August 2, Gorbachev spoke on Central Television, where he stated that on August 20, the new Union Treaty would be signed by the RSFSR, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and the remaining republics would do this “at certain intervals.” The text of the treaty was published for public discussion only on August 16, 1991.

"August putsch"

On the night of August 18-19, a group of eight senior leaders of the USSR (Gennady Yanaev, Valentin Pavlov, Dmitry Yazov, Vladimir Kryuchkov, etc.) formed the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP).

In order to prevent the signing of the Union Treaty, which, in their opinion, would lead to the collapse of the USSR, members of the State Emergency Committee tried to remove USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev from power and introduced a state of emergency in the country. However, the leaders of the State Emergency Committee did not dare to use force. On August 21, USSR Vice President Yanaev signed a decree dissolving the State Emergency Committee and invalidating all its decisions. On the same day, the act of canceling the orders of the State Emergency Committee was issued by the President of the RSFSR, Boris Yeltsin, and the prosecutor of the republic, Valentin Stepankov, issued an order to arrest its members.

Dismantling of government structures of the USSR

After the events of August 1991, the union republics, whose leaders participated in the negotiations in Novo-Ogarevo, declared their independence (August 24 - Ukraine, 30 - Azerbaijan, 31 - Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the rest - in September-December 1991). On August 23, 1991, President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin signed a decree “On the suspension of the activities of the Communist Party of the RSFSR”, all property of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR in Russia was nationalized. On August 24, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

On September 2, 1991, the Izvestia newspaper published a statement by the President of the USSR and the top leaders of ten union republics. It spoke of the need to “prepare and sign by all willing republics a Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States” and to create union coordinating governing bodies for the “transition period.”

On September 2-5, 1991, the V Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (the highest authority in the country) took place in Moscow. On the last day of the meetings, the law “On Bodies of State Power and Administration of the USSR in the Transitional Period” was adopted, according to which the congress dissolved itself and all state power was transferred to the Supreme Council of the USSR.

As a temporary body of the highest union administration, “for the coordinated resolution of issues of domestic and foreign policy,” the State Council of the USSR was established, consisting of the President of the USSR and the heads of the RSFSR, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. At meetings of the State Council, discussions continued on the new Union Treaty, which in the end was never signed.

The law also liquidated the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR and abolished the post of vice-president of the Soviet Union. The Interrepublican Economic Committee (IEC) of the USSR, headed by the former chairman of the government of the RSFSR Ivan Silaev, became the equivalent of the union government. The activities of the IEC on the territory of the RSFSR were terminated on December 19, 1991, its structures were finally liquidated on January 2, 1992.

On September 6, 1991, in contradiction with the current Constitution of the USSR and the law on the withdrawal of union republics from the Union, the State Council recognized the independence of the Baltic republics.

On October 18, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev and the leaders of eight union republics (excluding Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan) signed the Treaty on the Economic Community of Sovereign States. The document recognized that “independent states” are “former subjects of the USSR”; assumed the division of the all-Union gold reserves, the Diamond and Monetary Fund; maintaining the ruble as a common currency, with the possibility of introducing national currencies; liquidation of the State Bank of the USSR, etc.

On October 22, 1991, a resolution was issued by the State Council of the USSR on the abolition of the union KGB. On its basis, it was ordered to create the Central Intelligence Service (CSR) of the USSR (foreign intelligence, on the basis of the First Main Directorate), the Inter-Republican Security Service (internal security) and the Committee for the Protection of the State Border. The KGB of the union republics were transferred “to the exclusive jurisdiction of sovereign states.” The all-Union intelligence service was finally liquidated on December 3, 1991.

On November 14, 1991, the State Council adopted a resolution on the liquidation of all ministries and other central government bodies of the USSR from December 1, 1991. On the same day, the heads of seven union republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, RSFSR, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and the president USSR Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to sign a new Union Treaty on December 9, according to which the Union of Sovereign States would be formed as a “confederal democratic state.” Azerbaijan and Ukraine refused to join it.

Liquidation of the USSR and creation of the CIS

On December 1, a referendum on independence was held in Ukraine (90.32% of those who took part in the vote were in favor). On December 3, RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin announced recognition of this decision.

On December 8, 1991, the leaders of the RSFSR, Ukraine and Belarus Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk and Stanislav Shushkevich at the Viskuli government residence (Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belarus) signed an Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the dissolution of the USSR. On December 10, the document was ratified by the Supreme Councils of Ukraine and Belarus. On December 12, a similar act was adopted by the Russian parliament. According to the document, the scope of joint activities of CIS members included coordination of foreign policy activities; cooperation in the formation and development of a common economic space, pan-European and Eurasian markets, in the field of customs policy; cooperation in the field of environmental protection; migration policy issues; fight against organized crime.

On December 21, 1991, in Alma-Ata (Kazakhstan), 11 leaders of the former Soviet republics signed a declaration on the goals and principles of the CIS, its foundations. The declaration confirmed the "Belovezhskaya Agreement", indicating that with the formation of the CIS the USSR ceases to exist.

On December 25, 1991 at 19:00 Moscow time, Mikhail Gorbachev spoke live on Central Television and announced the termination of his activities as President of the USSR. On the same day, the state flag of the USSR was lowered from the flagpole of the Moscow Kremlin and the state flag of the Russian Federation was raised.

On December 26, 1991, the Council of Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a declaration which stated that in connection with the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the USSR as a state and a subject of international law ceases to exist.

Draft of a new Union Treaty

The leadership of the USSR, led by Mikhail Gorbachev, moves to the following actions:

• Conducting an all-Union referendum, in which the majority of voters spoke in favor of preserving the USSR;


• The establishment of the post of President of the USSR in connection with the prospect of the CPSU losing power;


• A project to create a new Union Treaty, in which the rights of the republics were significantly expanded.

The idea of ​​a union treaty was put forward by the popular fronts of the Baltic republics back in 1988. The center adopted the idea of ​​a treaty later, when centrifugal tendencies were gaining strength and there was a “parade of sovereignties.” The question of Russian sovereignty was raised in June 1990 at the First Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation. The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Federation was adopted. This meant that the Soviet Union as a state entity was losing its main support.

The Declaration formally delimited the powers of the center and the republic, which did not contradict the Constitution. In practice, it established dual power in the country.

The example of Russia strengthened separatist tendencies in the union republics.

However, the indecisive and inconsistent actions of the country's central leadership did not lead to success. In April 1991, the Union Center and nine republics (with the exception of the Baltic, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova) signed documents declaring the provisions of the new union treaty. However, the situation was complicated by the outbreak of a struggle between the parliaments of the USSR and Russia, which turned into a war of laws.

At the beginning of April 1990, the Law “On strengthening responsibility for attacks on the national equality of citizens and violent violation of the unity of the territory of the USSR” was adopted, which established criminal liability for public calls for the violent overthrow or change of the Soviet social and state system.

But almost simultaneously with this, the Law “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR” was adopted, which regulated the procedure and procedure for secession from the USSR through a referendum. A legal way to leave the Union was opened.

Mikhail Gorbachev's attempts to preserve the USSR were dealt a serious blow with the election of Boris Yeltsin on May 29, 1990 as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. This election took place in a bitter struggle, on the third attempt and with a margin of three votes over the candidate from the conservative part of the Supreme Council, Ivan Polozkov.

Russia was also part of the USSR as one of the union republics, representing the overwhelming majority of the population of the USSR, its territory, economic and military potential. The central bodies of the RSFSR were also located in Moscow, like the all-Union ones, but were traditionally perceived as secondary in comparison with the authorities of the USSR.

With the election of Boris Yeltsin as the head of these government bodies, the RSFSR gradually set a course towards declaring its own independence, and recognizing the independence of the remaining union republics, which created the opportunity to remove Mikhail Gorbachev by dissolving all all-union institutions that he could lead.

June 12, 1990 year The Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, establishing the priority of Russian laws over union laws. From that moment on, the all-Union authorities began to lose control over the country; The “parade of sovereignties” intensified.

January 12, 1991 year Yeltsin signs an agreement with Estonia on the fundamentals of interstate relations, in which the RSFSR and Estonia recognize each other as sovereign states.

As Chairman of the Supreme Council, Yeltsin was able to achieve the establishment of the post of President of the RSFSR, and on June 12, 1991, he won the popular election for this position.

State Emergency Committee and its consequences

A number of government and party leaders, under the slogans of preserving the unity of the country and to restore party-state control over all spheres of life, attempted a coup d'etat (GKChP, also known as the “August putsch” on August 19, 1991). However, the way it was carried out seems more like a maneuver to speed up the transfer of power.

The defeat of the putsch actually led to the collapse of the central government of the USSR, the resubordination of power structures to republican leaders and the acceleration of the collapse of the Union. Within a month after the coup, the authorities of almost all the union republics declared independence one after another. Some of them held independence referendums to give legitimacy to these decisions.

Since the Baltic republics left the USSR in September 1991, it has consisted of 12 republics.

October 28, 1991 R. I. Khasbulatov was elected to the post of Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.

November 6, 1991 By decree of the President of the RSFSR B. Yeltsin, the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party of the RSFSR on the territory of the RSFSR were terminated.

The referendum in Ukraine, held on December 1, 1991, in which supporters of independence won even in such a traditionally pro-Russian region as Crimea, made (according to some politicians, in particular B. N. Yeltsin) the preservation of the USSR in any form completely impossible.

November 14, 1991 seven out of twelve republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) decided to conclude an agreement on the creation of the Union of Sovereign States (USS) as a confederation with its capital in Minsk. The signing was scheduled for December 9, 1991.

Declaration of independence by the republics of the USSR

None of the republics complied with all the procedures prescribed by the USSR law of April 3, 1990 “On the procedure for resolving issues related to the secession of a union republic from the USSR.” The State Council of the USSR (a body created on September 5, 1991, consisting of the heads of the union republics chaired by the President of the USSR) formally recognized the independence of only three Baltic republics (September 6, 1991, resolutions of the USSR State Council No. GS-1, GS-2, GS-3). On November 4, V.I. Ilyukhin opened a criminal case against Gorbachev under Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (treason) in connection with these resolutions of the State Council. According to Ilyukhin, Gorbachev, by signing them, violated the oath and the Constitution of the USSR and damaged the territorial integrity and state security of the USSR. After this, Ilyukhin was fired from the USSR Prosecutor's Office.

Signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords and creation of the CIS

In December 1991 The heads of the three republics, the founders of the USSR - Belarus, Russia and Ukraine gathered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (the village of Viskuli, Belarus) to sign an agreement on the creation of the GCC. However, early agreements were rejected by Ukraine.

December 8, 1991 they stated that the USSR was ceasing to exist, declared the impossibility of forming the GCC and signed the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The signing of the agreements caused a negative reaction from Gorbachev, but after the August putsch he no longer had real power. As B.N. later emphasized. Yeltsin, the Belovezhskaya Agreements did not dissolve the USSR, but only stated its actual collapse by that time. A noteworthy fact is that at the moment the original of the Belovezhskaya Accords has disappeared.

December 11 The USSR Constitutional Supervision Committee issued a statement condemning the Belovezhskaya Agreement. This statement had no practical consequences.

December 12 The Supreme Council of the RSFSR, chaired by R.I. Khasbulatov, ratified the Belovezhsky Agreements and decided to denounce the RSFSR Union Treaty of 1922 (a number of lawyers believe that the denunciation of this treaty was meaningless, since it lost force in 1936 with the adoption of the USSR Constitution) and the recall of Russian deputies from the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (without convening the Congress, which was regarded by some as a violation of the Constitution of the RSFSR in force at that time). Due to the recall of deputies, the Council of the Union lost its quorum. It should be noted that Russia and Belarus did not formally declare independence from the USSR, but only stated the fact of its termination.

December 17 Chairman of the Council of the Union K.D. Lubenchenko noted the lack of quorum at the meeting. The Council of the Union, having renamed itself the Conference of Deputies, turned to the Supreme Soviet of Russia with a request to at least temporarily cancel the decision to recall Russian deputies so that the Council of the Union could resign. This appeal was ignored.

December 21, 1991 At the meeting of presidents in Almaty (Kazakhstan), 8 more republics joined the CIS: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the so-called Almaty Agreement was signed, which became the basis of the CIS.

The CIS was founded not as a confederation, but as an international (interstate) organization, which is characterized by weak integration and a lack of real power among the coordinating supranational bodies. Membership in this organization was rejected by the Baltic republics, as well as by Georgia (it joined the CIS only in October 1993 and announced its withdrawal from the CIS after the war in South Ossetia in the summer of 2008).

Completion of the collapse and liquidation of the power structures of the USSR

The authorities of the USSR as a subject of international law ceased to exist on December 25-26, 1991. Russia declared itself a continuator of the USSR's membership (and not a legal successor, as is often erroneously stated) in international institutions, assumed the debts and assets of the USSR, and declared itself the owner of all USSR property abroad.

According to data provided by the Russian Federation, at the end of 1991, the liabilities of the former Union were estimated at $93.7 billion, and assets at $110.1 billion. Vnesheconombank's deposits amounted to about $700 million. The so-called “zero option,” according to which the Russian Federation became the legal successor of the former Soviet Union in terms of external debt and assets, including foreign property, was not ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which claimed the right to dispose of the property of the USSR.

December 25, 1991 USSR President M. S. Gorbachev announced the termination of his activities as President of the USSR “for reasons of principle,” signed a decree resigning as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Armed Forces and transferred control of strategic nuclear weapons to Russian President B. Yeltsin.

December 26, 1991 The session of the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which retained a quorum - the Council of Republics (formed by the USSR Law of 09/05/1991 N 2392-1), - from which at that time only representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were not recalled, was chaired by A. Alimzhanov, declaration No. 142-N on the termination of the existence of the USSR, as well as a number of other documents (resolution on the dismissal of judges of the Supreme and Higher Arbitration Courts of the USSR and the collegium of the USSR Prosecutor's Office (No. 143-N), resolutions on the dismissal of the Chairman of the State Bank V . V. Gerashchenko (No. 144-N) and his first deputy V. N. Kulikov (No. 145-N)).

December 26, 1991 is considered the day the USSR ceased to exist, although some institutions and organizations of the USSR (for example, the State Standard of the USSR, the State Committee for Public Education, the Committee for the Protection of the State Border) still continued to function during 1992, and the Committee for Constitutional Supervision of the USSR did not exist at all officially dissolved.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russia and the “near abroad” constitute the so-called. "post-Soviet space".

Impact in the short term

Transformations in Russia

The collapse of the USSR led to the almost immediate launch of a broad program of reform by Yeltsin and his supporters. The most radical first steps were:

• in the economic field - price liberalization on January 2, 1992, which served as the beginning of “shock therapy”;


• in the political field - the ban on the CPSU (November 1991); liquidation of the Soviet system as a whole (September 21 - October 4, 1993).

In July 1991 The President of Russia signed a decree on departition, which prohibited the activities of party organizations in enterprises and institutions.

Interethnic conflicts

In the last years of the existence of the USSR, the potential for interethnic conflicts was actively used on its territory. After its collapse, most of them immediately went into the phase of armed clashes:

• The Karabakh conflict is the war of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh for independence from Azerbaijan;


• The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict is a conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia;


• The Georgian-South Ossetian conflict is a conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia;


• Ossetian-Ingush conflict - clashes between Ossetians and Ingush in the Prigorodny region;


• Civil War in Tajikistan - inter-clan civil war in Tajikistan;


• The First Chechen War is the struggle of Russian federal forces with separatists in Chechnya;


• The conflict in Transnistria is the struggle of the Moldovan authorities with the separatists in Transnistria.

According to Vladimir Mukomel, the number of deaths in interethnic conflicts in 1988-96 is about 100 thousand people. The number of refugees as a result of these conflicts amounted to at least 5 million people.

Division of the Black Sea Fleet

The status of the former USSR Black Sea Fleet was settled only in 1997 with a division between Russia and Ukraine. For several years it maintained an uncertain status and served as a source of friction between the two states.

The fate of the only Soviet full-fledged aircraft carrier, Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov, is noteworthy: it was completed by 1989. In December 1991, due to its uncertain status, it arrived from the Black Sea and joined the Russian Northern Fleet, which remains part of it to this day. At the same time, all aircraft and pilots remained in Ukraine; re-staffing took place only in 1998.

Nuclear-free status of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan

As a result of the collapse of the USSR, the number of nuclear powers increased, since at the time of the signing of the Belovezh Accords, Soviet nuclear weapons were stationed on the territory of four union republics: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The joint diplomatic efforts of Russia and the United States of America led to the fact that Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan renounced their status as nuclear powers and transferred to Russia all the military atomic potential found on their territory.

October 24, 1991 The Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution on the nuclear-free status of Ukraine. On January 14, 1992, a trilateral agreement between Russia, the United States and Ukraine was signed. All atomic charges are dismantled and transported to Russia, strategic bombers and missile launch silos are destroyed with US money. In return, the United States and Russia provide guarantees of the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

December 5, 1994 In Budapest, a Memorandum was signed by which Russia, the USA and Great Britain pledged to refrain from using force, economic coercion and to convene the UN Security Council to take the necessary measures if there is a threat of aggression towards Ukraine.

In Belarus, the nuclear-free status is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The United States and Russia provide guarantees of independence and territorial integrity.

During 1992-1994, Kazakhstan transferred up to 1,150 units of strategic nuclear weapons to Russia.

Status of the Baikonur Cosmodrome

With the collapse of the USSR, the largest Soviet cosmodrome, Baikonur, finds itself in a critical situation - funding collapsed, and the cosmodrome itself ended up on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Its status was settled in 1994 with the conclusion of a long-term lease agreement with the Kazakh side.

The collapse of the USSR from a legal point of view

Legislation of the USSR

Until December 1993, the Constitution of the USSR was in force on the territory of Russia in accordance with Article 4 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation - Russia (RSFSR), despite numerous amendments made to it that excluded mention of the USSR.

Article 72 of the 1977 USSR Constitution determined:

Each union republic retains the right to freely secede from the USSR.

The procedure for the implementation of this right, enshrined in law, was not observed (see above), but it was, as it were, “legitimized” mainly by the internal legislation of the states that left the USSR, as well as subsequent events, for example, their international legal recognition by the world communities - all 15 former Soviet republics are recognized by the world community as independent states and are represented in the UN.

And this means that, purely legally, due to the republics’ failure to comply with the withdrawal procedure and the disappearance of the original agreement, where the collapse is stated, the USSR still exists today, but it is not customary to talk about it. However, the West has a fear of an unexpected “remembering” of this fact and is expressed in their culture:

International law

Russia declared itself the successor of the USSR, which was recognized by almost all other states. The remaining post-Soviet states (with the exception of the Baltic states) became the legal successors of the USSR (in particular, the USSR's obligations under international treaties) and the corresponding union republics.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia declared themselves successors to the respective states that existed in 1918-1940. Georgia declared itself the successor of the Republic of Georgia 1918-1921.

Moldova is not a successor to the MSSR, since a law was adopted in which the decree on the creation of the MSSR was called illegal, which is perceived by many as a legal justification for the PMR’s claims to independence.

Azerbaijan declared itself a successor to the ADR, while maintaining some agreements and treaties adopted by the Azerbaijan SSR. Within the UN, all 15 states are considered successors of the respective union republics, and therefore the territorial claims of these countries to each other are not recognized (including the pre-existing claims of Latvia and Estonia to Russia) and the independence of state entities that were not in including the union republics (including Abkhazia, which had such status, but lost it).

Ratings

Assessments of the collapse of the USSR are ambiguous. The USA, opponents of the USSR in the Cold War, perceived the collapse of the USSR as their victory. And they even established a medal “For Victory in the Cold War.”

In this regard, in the United States, for example, one can often hear disappointment in victory: the “Russians” who lost the war are still a nuclear power, defend national interests, interfere in foreign policy disputes, and so on.

A loser hasn't lost... a loser doesn't think he's lost... and hasn't acted like a loser since 1991,

- said former commander of US strategic nuclear forces, General Eugene Habiger, in an interview shown on CNN's "Doomsday Rehearsal." Or the recent sensational hysteria of the US representative to the UN Samantha Power, who told Vitaly Churkin that Russia lost the Cold War and has no right to behave like that, after Russia, represented by Churkin, vetoed the resolution on Ukraine.

April 25, 2005 Russian President V. Putin, in his message to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, stated:

First of all, it should be recognized that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. For the Russian people it became a real drama. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory. The epidemic of collapse also spread to Russia itself.

A similar opinion was expressed in 2008 by the President of Belarus A.G. Lukashenko:

The collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, primarily due to the destruction of the existing system of the bipolar world. Many hoped that the end of the Cold War would mean getting rid of large military expenditures, and the freed-up resources would be used to solve global problems - food, energy, environmental and others. But these expectations were not met. The Cold War has been replaced by an even more fierce struggle for energy resources. In essence, a new redistribution of the world has begun. Any means are used, including the occupation of independent states.

In October 2009, in an interview with the editor-in-chief of Radio Liberty Lyudmila Telen, the first and only president of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev admitted his responsibility for the collapse of the USSR:

Lyudmila Telen:

Are you still reproached for the fact that you destroyed the Soviet Union?

Mikhail Gorbachev:

Conclusion

According to the sixth wave of regular international population surveys within the framework of the Eurasian Monitor program, 52% of respondents in Belarus, 68% in Russia and 59% in Ukraine regret the collapse of the Soviet Union; 36%, 24% and 30% of respondents, respectively, do not regret; 12%, 8% and 11% found it difficult to answer this question.

The failed “putsch” of the Emergency Committee and the completion of perestroika meant not only the end of socialist reform in the USSR, but also the victory of those political forces that saw in changing the model of social development the only way out of the country’s protracted crisis. This was a conscious choice not only of the authorities, but also of the majority of society.

“Revolution from above” in Russia in the 90s. led to the formation of an unbridled “free” market, subordinate to transnational corporations and a usurious oligarchy. These changes were only the beginning of an economic transition period.

During the political transformations, the Soviet system of organizing power was dismantled. Instead, the formation of a political system based on the separation of powers began. With the introduction of Article 13 into the 1993 Constitution, the state was deprived of the opportunity to set development goals (ideology), which means the country became a crypto-colony.

Due to the redistribution of power between the weakened federal Center and the growing regions (primarily national ones), centrifugal tendencies have intensified. In this situation, maintaining the state unity of the country was the most important task, which was not solved for the USSR, but Russia in the early 2000s, largely thanks to V.V. Putin coped with this task, although the trends were towards the destruction of Russia as a state (again, in full accordance with Directive 20/1 of the US National Security Council of August 18, 1948).

The collapse of the USSR radically changed Russia's geostrategic position. The country's unified security and defense system was destroyed. NATO has moved closer to the borders of Russia. At the same time, Russia itself, having overcome its previous isolation from Western countries, has found itself, as never before, integrated into many international structures.

By the beginning of the 21st century, Russia had lost its status as a great world power. The standard of living of the population fell to a minimum. It was necessary to take urgent measures to correct the situation.

A new strategic course was proposed by V.V. Putin, who relied on strengthening statehood, relying on the people and achieving through this the revival and prosperity of the country, taking into account all the positive experience accumulated at all stages of the national history of past centuries.

The new integration project of the Eurasian Union, which is officially formalized on January 1, 2015, will in the future unite many more countries than the USSR, because Russia has emerged from a period of turmoil with a new project of globalization in Russian, which is expressed in a simple idea that is based on the philosophy of the Russian civilizations:

People - let's become Humans!

In the valley where Ruslan lay
Covered in blood, silent, motionless;
And the old man stood over the knight,
And sprinkled with dead water,
And the wounds shone instantly,
And the corpse is wonderfully beautiful
Thrived; then with living water
The elder sprinkled the hero
And cheerful, full of new strength,
Trembling with young life,
Ruslan gets up on a clear day
He looks with greedy eyes,
Like an ugly dream, like a shadow,
The past flashes before him.

A.S. Pushkin"Ruslan and Lyudmila"

Trying to stop the collapse of the state and realizing that in new conditions the use of old forms and methods cannot bring positive results, the leadership of the USSR attempted to create a new legal basis for the existence of the Union. Based on the fact that the form of state unity of the country that actually developed in previous years is subject to merciless criticism, and to some extent justified, the path of changing it was chosen.

On June 20, 1990, the first working meeting of representatives of the republics took place to prepare proposals for the new Union Treaty. The position of the reformers was presented in the speech of R.N. Nishanov, who, on behalf of the Federation Council, spoke in favor of multivariate forms of federal structure, implying a variety of relations between the Soviet republics, as well as between each of them and the Union. His speech put forward the idea that the forms of inter-republican ties can vary from federal to confederal. This position of the representatives of the Union, in fact, contributed to its further collapse due to the fact that this recognized the uselessness of the USSR in its existing form. At the same time, the USSR could exist only by performing those functions that were assigned to it historically. By abandoning them, he also abandoned his historical perspective. Therefore, the first statements of the Union leaders about the possibility of confederal ties between the republics were at the same time a statement of the rejection of the USSR as a state.

It cannot be said that the leadership of the USSR did nothing to stop the actions of the republics that were destroying the Union. In the resolution of the Congress of People's Deputies "On the situation of the country and priority measures to overcome the current crisis socio-economic and political situation", adopted on December 24, 1990, in addition to the fact that the prospect of a final settlement of relations between the center and the republics was still associated with the conclusion of a new The Union Treaty also contained specific provisions that, according to the authors and legislators, should have normalized relations in the federation. In particular, in contrast to the declarations of the republics on state sovereignty, the supremacy of the laws of the USSR was confirmed throughout its entire territory, albeit with some reservations: “Prior to the signing of the Union Treaty, those laws of the republics are in force that do not contradict the Constitution of the USSR, as well as the laws of the USSR adopted within its boundaries.” powers". In addition, the President of the USSR, together with senior officials of the republics, was ordered to develop and sign by the end of 1990 a Temporary Agreement on Economic Issues for 1991, which would allow the formation of the budgets of the Union and the republics. The leadership of the republics, territories and regions was required to lift restrictions that prevent the movement of food, consumer goods, and material resources for their production across the country.

The problem of the Union Treaty is also returned to in the resolution “On the general concept of the new Union Treaty and the procedure for its conclusion”, adopted on December 25, 1990 by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Union, which spoke of the need to preserve the old name and integrity of the state, transforming it into a voluntary equal union sovereign republics - a democratic federal state. It was thought that the renewed Union should be based “on the will of peoples and the principles set out in the declarations of republics and autonomies on state sovereignty, and is intended to ensure: the equality of all citizens of the country, regardless of their nationality and place of residence; the equality of peoples, whatever their number, their the inalienable right to self-determination and free democratic development, the territorial integrity of the constituent entities of the federation; guarantees of the rights of national minorities...".

As a result of the hard work of scientists and politicians, representatives of the center and the republics in Novo-Ogarevo, a draft Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States was agreed upon, which, after changes and clarifications made by representatives of the republics, the Federation Council and the preparatory committee formed by the Fourth Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, was published and sent for consideration to the Supreme Councils of the republics and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In the process of developing the new Union Treaty, the question arose about the place and role of autonomies. This was the subject of the meeting of the President of the USSR and the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR with the chairmen of the Supreme Councils of the autonomous republics, which took place on May 12, 1991 in the Kremlin. It confirmed that the autonomous republics were signing the Union Treaty as members of the USSR and the RSFSR. However, the representative of Tatarstan, Shaimiev, stated that his republic intends to sign the Treaty only as a member of the USSR with the subsequent conclusion of an agreement with Russia.

On February 15, 1991, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the USSR and union republics and their representatives took place. The forum participants decided to create the Council of Foreign Ministers of the USSR and Union Republics, which will represent a mechanism for the participation of the republics in the development, implementation and coordination of foreign policy activities of the USSR, specific discussion of international problems, and finding solutions on organizational and other issues. The main goal of creating the Council is interaction for a more complete and harmonious consideration of the interests of the Union and the republics in the foreign policy sphere.

At the same time, negotiations on the final version of the Union Treaty, which began in April, continued in Novo-Ogarevo. At a separate closed meeting M.S. Gorbachev, B.N. Yeltsin and N.A. Nazarbayev (head of Kazakhstan) on July 29, 1991, personnel issues were also discussed.

July 31, 1991 Assistant to the President of the USSR G.Kh. Shakhnazarov, after agreeing with Yeltsin, presented Gorbachev with a schedule for the multi-stage signing of the new Union Treaty: August 20, 1991 - RSFSR and Kazakhstan, September 3 - Belarus and Uzbekistan, September 17 - Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, October 1 - Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, October 22 (tentative) - Ukraine and, possibly, Armenia and Moldova, as well as the allied delegation. At the end of the process, the President of the USSR had to put his signature. After this, the agreement came into force.

The strange system of multi-stage signing of the treaty was explained by the need to give Ukraine time to decide on what conditions it would enter the renewed Union.

On August 2, 1991, the President of the USSR announced on Central Television that on August 20, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would begin the procedure for signing a new Union Treaty. After this, Gorbachev went on vacation to Crimea (the town of Foros).

State Emergency Committee

On the eve of the signing of the Union Treaty, on August 19, 1991, the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP) was created. Formally, it was headed by Vice-President of the USSR G.I. Yanaev, who issued a decree on the temporary performance of the duties of the President of the USSR due to Gorbachev’s inability to fulfill the duties of head of state “for health reasons.” The Committee also included the Prime Minister of B.C. Pavlov, Minister of Defense D.T. Yazov, Minister of Internal Affairs B.K. Pugo, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov, Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council under the President of the USSR,

O.D. Baklanov, President of the Association of State Enterprises of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR, General Director of the Research and Production Association “Machine-Building Plant named after. M.I. Kalinin" A.I. Tizyakov, Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR V.A. Starodubtsev.

The “Statement of the Soviet Leadership,” signed by Yanaev, Pavlov and Baklanov and broadcast on Central Television on the morning of August 19, reported that a state of emergency was being introduced in certain areas of the USSR for a period of 6 months from August 19 in order to put an end to “confrontation, chaos, anarchy.” . During this period, the highest power in the country passes into the hands of the State Emergency Committee, whose decisions are binding for strict execution by all authorities throughout the entire territory of the USSR. The State Emergency Committee promised to establish the unconditional supremacy of the USSR Constitution and the laws of the USSR throughout the entire territory of the Union.

Even before the official announcement of its existence, on the night of August 19, the State Emergency Committee gave instructions to arrest the President of the RSFSR, who was at his dacha near Moscow. The KGB special anti-terrorism group Alpha, having cordoned off the dacha, was awaiting the decisive order to complete the operation. He didn’t act, the State Emergency Committee gave the all clear. During the days of the August putsch, the Russian leadership acted unitedly, energetically, and aggressively. The State Emergency Committee, on the contrary, acted indecisively and passively.

By order of the State Emergency Committee, troops and armored vehicles were brought into Moscow. Already on the morning of August 19, the building of the Supreme Soviet of Russia began to be surrounded by Muscovites who feared the dispersal of the Russian parliament and were ready to defend it. In his address “To the Citizens of Russia” B.N. Yeltsin, Chairman of the Russian Government I.S. Silaev and acting Chairman of the Supreme Council of Russia R.I. Khasbulatov characterized the actions of the State Emergency Committee as a reactionary, anti-constitutional coup with the violent removal from power of the legally elected President of the country and declared the “so-called committee” and all its decisions illegal. B.N. Yeltsin issued a decree: all decisions of the Emergency Committee are not valid on Russian territory. It is symbolic that the President of Russia spoke in front of his supporters and announced this historic decree, climbing onto one of the tanks that arrived in the capital on the orders of the State Emergency Committee. The construction of barricades began around the White House. Even at night, about 10 thousand people remained near the building of the Supreme Council, forming a living ring. Russian citizens were ready to defend the White House. In the face of this determination, the Emergency Committee never dared to give the order for the assault. After three defenders of the White House (D. Komar, I. Krichevsky and V. Usov) fell under infantry fighting vehicles moving along the Garden Ring, the withdrawal of armored vehicles and troops from Moscow began.

On the morning of August 22, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR sent a delegation led by Vice-President of the RSFSR A.V. to Gorbachev in Foros. Rutsky to bring the President of the USSR to Moscow. At the same time as Rutsky, Yazov and Kryuchkov flew to Crimea with the goal of getting an audience with Gorbachev, explaining themselves and receiving forgiveness, but Gorbachev did not accept them.

Members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested (Pugo committed suicide). On the same day, the President of the RSFSR expressed gratitude to the citizens of Russia for the support of the Russian leadership in repelling the “reactionary group of high-ranking putschists.” Returning from Foros, the President of the USSR on Central Television noted “the outstanding role of the President of Russia, who became the center of resistance to conspiracy and dictatorship.”

20 years of a contract that no one signed

Behind the assessments of the events of 20 years ago related to the State Emergency Committee, the main reason that pushed part of the party and state leadership of the USSR to such radical actions has almost disappeared into the shadows.

The signing of a specially prepared Union Treaty was scheduled for August 20, 1991.

The new federal state was supposed to be called the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics, with the previous abbreviation - USSR.

Novoogaryovsky trial

During Gorbachev's perestroika, contradictions between the center and the republics grew. It was urgently necessary to develop a draft Union Treaty that would suit all 15 Union republics. However, time was lost and the centrifugal tendencies in some of them became irreversible.

By the end of 1990, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia (without Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Armenia, and Moldova (without Transnistria and Gagauzia) declared their unwillingness to participate in the treaty process. Meanwhile, in March 1990, at the All-Union referendum that took place, over 76 percent of the population voted for (“preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics”). And this obvious result allowed Mikhail Gorbachev to sharply intensify the development of the project.

The first meeting to prepare the agreement took place on May 24, 1991 at the residence of the President of the USSR Novo-Ogarevo near Moscow (hence the name of the process). Representatives of nine republics took part in it: the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the BSSR, Azerbaijan and five Central Asian ones.

After long and at times very tense discussions, a compromise was reached in June: the USSR should transform into a soft federation. The issues of defense, security, foreign policy, common financial policy (issue of the union currency), and common infrastructure remained with the union center.

Most economic issues, issues of social and cultural policy were transferred to the jurisdiction of the union republics, and citizenship of the union republics was introduced.

It was assumed that the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, would become the new head of the union government. The prepared Union Treaty was considered open for signature by all republics from August 20, 1991.

Russia's position

By August 1991, there was no consensus among Russian President Yeltsin's circle about the new Union Treaty. In general, the position of the Russian leadership on concluding the agreement was extremely ambivalent. On the one hand, Boris Yeltsin advocated the creation of a renewed Union, on the other, since the winter of 1991, negotiations had been ongoing on the creation of a kind of confederation of Russia-Ukraine-Belarus-Kazakhstan (“horizontally”) without the participation of the Union Center.

Few people know that the first attempt to conclude the (“Belovezhskaya Accords”) was made back in February 1991. This idea was actively supported by Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk, then the head of the Supreme Council of Ukraine. However, Belarusian Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich and the head of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev opposed it.

A consistent supporter of the Union Treaty was the acting chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, Ruslan Khasbulatov, although he expressed certain complaints about its text. In an interview with Radio Liberty in August 2001, Ruslan Khasbulatov recalled: “Yeltsin and I argued a lot - should we go to a meeting on August 20? And finally, I convinced Yeltsin, saying that if we don’t even go there, if we don’t form a delegation, it will be perceived as our desire to destroy the Union.”

The position of the Russian leadership was monitored extremely closely in other union republics, primarily in Ukraine.

Ukraine's position

Anti-union sentiments in the summer of 1991 were strong only in the West of Ukraine and partly in Kyiv. The center of Ukraine and the Left Bank actively advocated signing the agreement and preserving the Union - in the referendum, more than 70 percent of Ukrainian citizens voted for it.

The Ukrainian government was most concerned about protecting the republic’s consumer market. In November 1990, cards were introduced in Ukraine. Since that time, Ukrainians, along with wages in Soviet rubles, began to receive multi-colored “sheets of coupons”, without which it was difficult to buy something in the state trade system.

Some Ukrainian experts began to retroactively declare that even then Ukraine began to introduce its own currency. To put it mildly, they are disingenuous. Residents of Russian megacities remember the same coupons for almost all consumer goods - from cigarettes to sugar.

The consumer market crisis was common to everyone. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the all-Union crisis, many unfortunate economists have appeared, stubbornly arguing that “Ukraine feeds the entire Union” and that in a few years an independent Ukraine will certainly become a “second France.”

For the sake of objectivity, it must be said that such conversations were then very popular in Russia. “The Union republics hang a heavy burden on our economy,” sounded a persistent refrain.

Contrary to the popular cliché, the West was not interested in the collapse of the USSR in the summer of 1991.

Another socialist federation, Yugoslavia, was already creeping into civil war, and getting a new source of tension with nuclear weapons would be too much.

During a visit to Kyiv in early August 1991, then-US President George H. W. Bush conveyed to the Ukrainian leadership that the United States was not interested in the emergence of an independent Ukraine.

Why didn't the Union take place?

After 20 years, the question arises again: did the new Union have a chance?

According to a direct and active participant in those events, the former President of Tatarstan Mentimer Shaimiev, “be that as it may, the Union had a real chance of being preserved by granting broad powers to the union republics.”

It must be said that a personal factor played a huge role in disrupting the process of creating a new Union.

In rejection of the confederation, seemingly opposing forces united in the most surprising way. On the one hand, they were the “guardians” of the former USSR from the conservative wing of the party and state leadership (the actions of the putschists were aimed, first of all, at disrupting the signing of the new Union Treaty).

And on the other hand, there were the pseudo-democratic elites that were actively forming at that time, represented by people from the republican leadership of the CPSU, who wanted full power in their territories - the former union republics. Russia, led by its leader Yeltsin, was no exception in this sense.

After the failure of the State Emergency Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev still tried to revive the Novoogarevo process and create at least some kind of formation on the ruins of the USSR.

On December 9, 1991, the seven republics (excluding Ukraine and Azerbaijan) were scheduled to sign an agreement on the creation of a confederal Union with its capital in Minsk.

However, on December 8, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus announced in Belovezhskaya Pushcha the dissolution of the USSR and the creation of the CIS. The majority of the population of the three Slavic republics believed that the Commonwealth would become a new format of the Union, but these hopes were not justified.

Twenty years later

None of the former Soviet republics, including the Baltic pioneers of secession from the USSR, oil-producing Azerbaijan and Russia itself, benefited from the collapse of a single state, or more precisely, from the destruction of a common economic space.

The Soviet economy had a very high level of cooperation, up to 80 percent of products were created jointly and then distributed among the republics. The collapse of the all-Union market led to a collapse in production, galloping inflation, and the disappearance of knowledge-intensive industries.

The most indicative in this regard are the problems of Ukraine after gaining independence. The Ukrainian aerospace industry, due to the severance of cooperation ties with Russia and lack of funding, has significantly reduced production volumes; many extremely promising projects that are at a high stage of readiness have been mothballed.

20 years later, many of the ideas contained in the draft Union Treaty again become relevant during the creation of the Eurasian Union. The Customs Union and the EurAsEC Common Economic Space are actually the first stages of creating a new Union, primarily of an economic nature.

Hopefully, the current political elites of post-Soviet states will be wise enough not to repeat the mistakes of 20 years ago.

Innokenty Adyasov,

Member of the Expert Analytical Council under the Committee on CIS Affairs of the State Duma - especially for RIA Novosti

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