A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991. An overwhelming majority of 92.3% of voters approved the declaration of independence made by the Verkhovna Rada on 24 August 1991.
On the same day, a presidential election took place. From 2 December 1991 onwards, Ukraine was globally recognized by other countries as an independent state. Also on 2 December, the President of the Russian SFSR Boris Yeltsin recognized Ukraine as independent. In a telegram of congratulations Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev sent to Kravchuk soon after the referendum, Gorbachev included his hopes for close Ukrainian cooperation and understanding in “the formation of a union of sovereign states”.
Ukraine was the second-most powerful republic in the Soviet Union both economically and politically (behind Russia), and its secession ended any realistic chance of Gorbachev keeping the USSR together. These fascinating photos were taken by American photographer Peter Turnley that show everyday life of Ukraine in 1991.
Kiev, Ukraine, 1990
A man holds a sign above the crowd at a Ukrainian pro-independence rally, Ukraine, 1991
A woman holds a sign above the crowd at a Ukrainian pro-independence rally, 1991
A worker operates a press at the Lviv Bus Plant (Lvivsky Avtobusny Zavod, or LAZ), Lviv, Ukraine, 1991
A worker operates a press at the Lviv Bus Plant (Lvivsky Avtobusny Zavod, or LAZ), Ukraine, 1991
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