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136-771: The post-Soviet states , also referred to as the former Soviet Union ( FSU ) or the former Soviet republics , are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they existed as Union Republics , which were the top-level constituents of the Soviet Union . There are 15 post-Soviet states in total: Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Estonia , Georgia , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Moldova , Russia , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Ukraine , and Uzbekistan . Each of these countries succeeded their respective Union Republics:

272-441: A full invasion of Ukraine . In announcing the invasion, Putin repeatedly denied Ukraine's right to exist , calling the country "an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space", and claiming that it was created by Russia. It has been referred to as an irredentist war, going against the norm since World War II that sees territorial conquest as unacceptable. Parallels were made between Putin's irredentism during

408-467: A market economy from a command economy in 1990–1991 and made efforts to rebuild and restructure their economic systems, often following neoliberal shock therapy policies, with varying results. In all, the process triggered severe economic declines, with gross domestic product (GDP) dropping by more than 40% overall between 1990 and 1995. This decline in GDP was much more intense than the 27% decline that

544-779: A roadmap for future integration and established the Eurasian Economic Commission (modelled on the European Commission ). The Eurasian Economic Commission serves as the regulatory agency for the Eurasian Customs Union, the Single Economic Space and the Eurasian Economic Union. The Eurasian Economic Union is an economic union of post-Soviet states. The treaty aiming for the establishment of

680-611: A Russian nationalist group, held an unsanctioned demonstration in Moscow. The authorities did not break up the demonstration and even kept traffic out of the demonstrators' way while they marched to an impromptu meeting with Boris Yeltsin. On 25 July 1987, 300 Crimean Tatars staged a noisy demonstration near the Kremlin Wall for several hours, calling for the right to return to their homeland, from which they were deported in 1944; police and soldiers looked on. On 23 August 1987,

816-542: A choice between multiple candidates, elected by secret ballot. However, the party delegates at the Plenum watered down Gorbachev's proposal, and democratic choice within the Communist Party was never significantly implemented. Gorbachev also radically expanded the scope of glasnost and stated that no subject was off limits for open discussion in the media. On 7 February, dozens of political prisoners were freed in

952-819: A draft bill was submitted to Russia's State Duma by a member of the ruling United Russia party proposing to repeal the Decree of the State Council of the Soviet Union "On the Recognition of the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania". On 6 July, the speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin , threatened to "claim back" Alaska if the US froze or seized Russian assets. Previously, another member of

1088-514: A free trade area, but the agreements were never signed. On 19 October 2011, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine signed a free trade agreement. Uzbekistan joined the free trade area in 2013. The Eurasian Economic Community (EURASEC), formerly the CIS Customs Union, was established by Russia , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan . Ukraine and Moldova have observer status in

1224-869: A new central legislature, the Congress of People's Deputies (although the ban on other political parties was not lifted until 1990). On 1 July 1985, Gorbachev sidelined his main rival by removing Grigory Romanov from the Politburo and brought Boris Yeltsin into the Central Committee Secretariat . On 23 December 1985, Gorbachev appointed Yeltsin First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party , replacing Viktor Grishin . Gorbachev continued to press for greater liberalization . On 23 December 1986 Andrei Sakharov ,

1360-741: A new organization called the Popular Front of Azerbaijan , loosely based on the Estonian Popular Front . On 17 September, when gun battles broke out between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis near Stepanakert , two soldiers were killed and more than two dozen injured. This led to almost tit-for-tat ethnic polarization in Nagorno-Karabakh's two main towns: the Azerbaijani minority was expelled from Stepanakert , and

1496-495: A new supreme legislative body called the Congress of People's Deputies . Frustrated by the old guard's resistance, Gorbachev embarked on a set of constitutional changes to attempt separation of party and state, thereby isolating his Party opponents. Detailed proposals for the new Congress of People's Deputies were published on 2 October 1988, and to enable the creation of the new legislature. The Supreme Soviet, during its 29 November – 1 December 1988, session, implemented amendments to

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1632-490: A non-irredentist policy in the 1990s despite some justifications for irredentist policies—one factor disfavoring irredentism was a focus by the ruling interest in consolidating power and the economy within the territory of Russia. Furthermore, a stable policy of irredentism popular with the electorate was not found, and politicians proposing such ideas did not fare well electorally. Russian nationalist politicians tended to focus on internal threats (i.e. "outsiders") rather than on

1768-1144: A number of multinational organizations such as: Regarding political freedom in the former Soviet republics, Freedom House 's 2021 report listed the following: Similarly, the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders in 2022 recorded the following as regards press freedom : It has been remarked that several post-Soviet states did not change leadership for decades since their independence, such as Nursultan Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan until his surprise resignation in 2019, and Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan, until his death in September 2016. All of these had originally more limited terms but through decrees or referendums prolonged their stay in office (a practice also followed by Presidents Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus and Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan). Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan had likewise served as President since its independence until he

1904-680: A pressure for democracy. This is one of the few social disasters that the church has survived, in which it was not the cause. But if successful politically, it faces economic challenges beyond its grasp." The Central Asian states ( Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan ) plus Azerbaijan in the Southern Caucasus are Muslim , except for their dwindling Russian and other European minorities. The Baltic countries are historically Western Christian ( Protestant and Roman Catholic ), which adds another layer of pro-Western orientation to those countries, although

2040-511: A public meeting lacking official permission at Ivan Franko State University . On 13 November 1988, approximately 10,000 people attended an officially sanctioned meeting organized by the cultural heritage organization Spadschyna , the Kyiv University student club Hromada , and the environmental groups Zelenyi Svit ("Green World") and Noosfera , to focus on ecological issues. From 14 to 18 November, 15 Ukrainian activists were among

2176-486: A revised delegate list. Authorities attempted to disperse the rally in front of Druzhba Stadium. On 7 July, 10,000 to 20,000 people witnessed the launch of the Democratic Front to Promote Perestroika. On 17 July, a group of 10,000 gathered in the village Zarvanytsia for Millennium services celebrated by Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk. The militia tried to disperse attendees, but it turned out to be

2312-564: A seat on the Supreme Soviet, and in the summer he formed the first opposition, the Inter-Regional Deputies Group , composed of Russian nationalists and liberals . Composing the final legislative group in the Soviet Union, those elected in 1989 played a vital part in reforms and the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union during the next two years. On 30 May 1989, Gorbachev proposed that local elections across

2448-663: A speech that Russia had annexed the four regions . The annexations were declared illegal by the UN. On 12 October 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution ES-11/4 advocating for territorial integrity of Ukraine, with 143 nations voting in favor, 5 against and 35 abstaining. It condemned the "illegal so-called referendums" and the "attempted illegal annexation" and demanded that Russia immediately reverse its decisions and withdraw its forces from Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev , deputy chairman of

2584-472: A successful transition to capitalism and more democracy." Commenting on Milanović's report in 2021, Kristen Ghodsee says this view is "essentially correct" and perhaps underestimates "the negative impacts of transition by focusing only on GDP, inequality and democratic consolidation" whereas Mitchell A. Orenstein says this view is "overly pessimistic" and notes that "Poland had done spectacularly well and living standards had increased in many countries." Most of

2720-476: A thousand police to stop the march, with the resulting clashes leaving two Azerbaijanis dead. These deaths, announced on state radio, led to the Sumgait Pogrom . Between 26 February and 1 March, the city of Sumgait (Azerbaijan) saw violent anti-Armenian rioting during which at least 32 people were killed. The authorities totally lost control and occupied the city with paratroopers and tanks; nearly all of

2856-696: A violent protest action in the capital on 28 October, many of Songalia's remaining holdovers within the CPL either resigned or retired in protest of the police brutality of that day. On 20 February 1988, after a week of growing demonstrations in Stepanakert , capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (the ethnically Armenian-majority area within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic ),

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2992-458: A year - with the relatively liberal Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas . In October 1988, Brazauskas bowed to pressure from Sąjūdis members, and legalized the flying of the historic yellow-green-red flag of independent Lithuania, and in November 1988 he passed a law making Lithuanian the country's official language; also, the former national anthem, " Tautiška giesmė ", was later reinstated. Following

3128-700: Is "no historical basis" for the "idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians". On 21 February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine as independent states—the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics"—as well as their irredentist claims to the wider Donbas region of Ukraine. The following day, Russia announced that it was sending troops into these territories. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched

3264-508: Is a closely related organization. Observer countries include Armenia , Bulgaria and Poland . Just like GUAM before it, this forum is largely seen as intending to counteract Russian influence in the area. This is the only international forum centered in the post-Soviet space in which the Baltic countries also participate. In addition, the other three post-Soviet states in it are all members of GUAM. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),

3400-462: Is composed of China and five post-Soviet states, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The organization was founded in 2001, though its predecessor, the Shanghai Five grouping, has existed since 1996. Its aims revolve around security-related issues such as border demarcation, terrorism and energy. Apart from above, the former Soviet republics also hold membership in

3536-525: Is sometimes used to refer to the post-Soviet states other than Russia. Following the end of the Cold War , the international community de facto recognized Russia as the successor state to the Soviet Union as a whole, rather than to just the Russian SFSR. In contrast, the other post-Soviet states were recognized as successors only to their corresponding Union Republics. However, Russia's status as

3672-402: The 1977 Soviet Constitution , enacted a law on electoral reform, and set the date of the election for 26 March 1989. On 29 November 1988, the Soviet Union ceased jamming all foreign radio stations, allowing Soviet citizens – for the first time since a brief period in the 1960s – to have unrestricted access to news sources beyond Communist Party control. In 1986 and 1987, Latvia had been in

3808-1321: The Armenian SSR , the Azerbaijan SSR , the Byelorussian SSR , the Estonian SSR , the Georgian SSR , the Kazakh SSR , the Kirghiz SSR , the Latvian SSR , the Lithuanian SSR , the Moldavian SSR , the Russian SFSR , the Tajik SSR , the Turkmen SSR , the Ukrainian SSR , and the Uzbek SSR . In Russia, the term " near abroad " ( Russian : ближнее зарубежье , romanized :  bližneye zarubežye )

3944-514: The Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) were the first to break away from the Soviet Union by proclaiming the restoration of their national independence in 1990; they cited legal continuity from the original Baltic states , asserting that Baltic sovereignty had continued on a de jure basis due to the belligerent nature of the 1940 Soviet annexation . Subsequently, the 12 remaining Union Republics seceded, with all of them jointly establishing

4080-892: The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and most of them later joining the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). On the other hand, the three Baltic states pursued a policy of near-total disengagement with the Russian-dominated post-Soviet sphere, instead focusing on integrating themselves with the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They successfully attained NATO membership and were granted EU membership in 2004. Since

4216-554: The Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations which aims to forge closer integration. The Community of Democratic Choice (CDC) was formed in December 2005 at the primary instigation of Ukraine and Georgia, and composed of six post-Soviet states (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and three other countries of Eastern and Central Europe ( Slovenia , Romania and North Macedonia ). The Black Sea Forum (BSF)

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4352-511: The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union lasted until 24 January 1989. For the next month, selection among the 7,531 district nominees took place at meetings organized by constituency-level electoral commissions. On 7 March, a final list of 5,074 candidates was published; about 85% were Party members. In the two weeks prior to the 1,500 district polls, elections to fill 750 reserved seats of public organizations, contested by 880 candidates, were held. Of these seats, 100 were allocated to

4488-516: The Donbas War . They declared their captured territory to be the Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics". During this unrest, Putin began referring to " Novorossiya " (New Russia), a former Russian imperial territory that covered much of southern Ukraine. Russian-backed forces then announced plans for a new Novorossiya , to incorporate all of eastern and southern Ukraine. A 2015 survey by

4624-683: The Freedom Monument , shouting, "Soviet Russia out! Free Latvia!" Security forces confronted the marchers, and several police vehicles were overturned. The Jeltoqsan ('December') of 1986 were riots in Alma-Ata , Kazakhstan , sparked by Gorbachev's dismissal of Dinmukhamed Kunaev , the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan and an ethnic Kazakh , who was replaced with Gennady Kolbin , an outsider from

4760-729: The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring in 1968. Gorbachev abandoned the oppressive and expensive Brezhnev Doctrine , which mandated intervention in the Warsaw Pact states, in favor of non-intervention in the internal affairs of allies – jokingly termed the Sinatra Doctrine in a reference to the Frank Sinatra song " My Way ". Poland was the first republic to democratize following

4896-605: The NKVD performed secret killings in Kurapaty. Initially the Front had significant visibility because its numerous public actions almost always ended in clashes with the police and the KGB . Spring 1989 saw the people of the Soviet Union exercising a democratic choice, albeit limited, for the first time since 1917, when they elected the new Congress of People's Deputies. Just as important

5032-548: The Partnership for Peace and Individual Partnership Action Plan program include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Four member states, namely Georgia , Ukraine , Azerbaijan and Moldova , established the GUAM group that was largely seen as intending to counter Russian dominance in the region. Notably, these four nations do not participate in any of

5168-536: The Pew Research Center found that "61 percent of Russians believe parts of neighboring countries really belong to Russia". In his 2021 essay " On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians ", Putin referred to Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians as "one people" making up a triune Russian nation . He maintained that large parts of Ukraine are historical Russian lands and claimed there

5304-702: The Politburo on 11 March 1985, just over four hours after his predecessor Konstantin Chernenko died at the age of 73. Gorbachev, aged 54, was the youngest member of the Politburo. His initial goal as general secretary was to revive the stagnating Soviet economy , and he realized that doing so would require reforming underlying political and social structures. The reforms began with personnel changes of senior Brezhnev-era officials who would impede political and economic change. On 23 April 1985, Gorbachev brought two protégés, Yegor Ligachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov , into

5440-670: The Romanian language and return to the Latin alphabet. The transition from "movement" (an informal association) to "front" (a formal association) was seen as a natural "upgrade" once a movement gained momentum with the public, and the Soviet authorities no longer dared to crack down on it. On 26 April 1988, about 500 people participated in a march organized by the Ukrainian Cultural Club on Kyiv's Khreschatyk Street to mark

5576-407: The Russian Federation . That evening, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the Russian tricolor flag . The following day, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union's upper chamber, the Soviet of the Republics, formally dissolved the Union. The events of the dissolution resulted in its 15 constituent republics gaining full independence which also marked

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5712-429: The Russian SFSR . Demonstrations started in the morning of 17 December 1986, with 200 to 300 students in front of the Central Committee building on Brezhnev Square . On the next day, 18 December, protests turned into civil unrest as clashes between troops, volunteers, militia units, and Kazakh students turned into a wide-scale confrontation. The clashes could only be controlled on the third day. On 6 May 1987, Pamyat ,

5848-423: The Russo-Ukrainian War has been described by much of the international community as being a culmination of Russia's irredentist policies towards Ukraine. Examples of these irredentist policies being implemented in this conflict include the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine , which saw the Russian annexation of southeastern Ukraine in 2022. Specifically looking at

5984-434: The Security Council of Russia and former Russian president, said that Ukraine should not exist in any form and that Russia will continue to wage war against any independent Ukrainian state. He commented that Putin outlined "why Ukraine did not exist, does not exist, and will not exist". In a March 2024 speech, Medvedev described Ukraine as part of Russia, and spoke in front of a large map showing Russia in control of most of

6120-420: The Southern Caucasus republic of Georgia joining it over the next two months. During the failed 1991 August coup , communist hardliners and military elites attempted to overthrow Gorbachev and stop the failing reforms. However, the turmoil led to the central government in Moscow losing influence, ultimately resulting in many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of

6256-468: The Spitak earthquake struck, killing an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people. When Gorbachev rushed back from a visit to the United States, he was so angered with being confronted by protesters calling for Nagorno-Karabakh to be made part of the Armenian Republic during a natural disaster that on 11 December 1988, he ordered that the entire Karabakh Committee be arrested. In Tbilisi , the capital of Soviet Georgia , many demonstrators camped out in front of

6392-442: The Theater Square , by 22 February, there were 100,000, the next day 300,000, and a transport strike was declared, by 25 February, there were close to a million demonstrators—more than a quarter of Armenia's population. This was the first of the large, peaceful public demonstrations that would become a feature of communism's overthrow in Prague, Berlin, and, ultimately, Moscow. Leading Armenian intellectuals and nationalists, including

6528-463: The dissolution of the Soviet Union . Only organizations that are mainly (or completely) composed of post-Soviet states are listed in this section; organizations with wider memberships are not discussed. The 15 post-Soviet states are divided in their participation to the regional blocs: The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) consists of 10 former Soviet Republics that differ in their membership status. As of December 2010, 9 countries have ratified

6664-423: The revolutions of 1989 in which Soviet-imposed socialist regimes of the Warsaw Pact were toppled peacefully ( with the notable exception of Romania ), which in turn increased pressure on Gorbachev to introduce greater democracy and autonomy for the Soviet Union's constituent republics. Under Gorbachev's leadership, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1989 introduced limited competitive elections to

6800-409: The 100 human-, national- and religious-rights advocates invited to discuss human rights with Soviet officials and a visiting delegation of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the Helsinki Commission). On 10 December, hundreds gathered in Kyiv to observe International Human Rights Day at a rally organized by the Democratic Union. The unauthorized gathering resulted in

6936-450: The 14,000 Armenian residents of Sumgait fled. Gorbachev refused to make any changes to the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which remained part of Azerbaijan. He instead sacked the Communist Party Leaders in both Republics in response – on 21 May 1988, Kamran Baghirov was replaced by Abdulrahman Vezirov as First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party . From 23 July to September 1988, a group of Azerbaijani intellectuals began working for

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7072-423: The 2,250 CPD seats were filled. In district races, run-off elections were held in 76 constituencies on 2 and 9 April and fresh elections were organized on 14 and 20 April to 23 May, in the 199 remaining constituencies where the required absolute majority was not attained. While most CPSU-endorsed candidates were elected, more than 300 lost to independent candidates such as Yeltsin, the physicist Andrei Sakharov and

7208-403: The 2000s, many EU officials have stressed the importance of establishing EU Association Agreements with the other post-Soviet states. Ukraine and Georgia have actively sought NATO membership due to increasingly hostile Russian interference in their internal affairs . Due to the post-Soviet conflicts , several disputed states with varying degrees of international recognition have emerged within

7344-464: The 48th anniversary of the secret protocols of the 1939 Molotov Pact , thousands of demonstrators marked the occasion in the three Baltic capitals to sing independence songs and attend speeches commemorating Stalin's victims. The gatherings were sharply denounced in the official press and closely watched by the police but were not interrupted. On 14 June 1987, about 5,000 people gathered again at Freedom Monument in Riga , and laid flowers to commemorate

7480-611: The 542-member Supreme Soviet passed the measure 254–85 (with 36 abstentions). The decision required a constitutional amendment, ratified by the full congress, which met 12–25 December. It also passed measures that would allow direct elections for presidents of each of the 15 constituent republics. Gorbachev strongly opposed such a move during debate but was defeated. The vote expanded the power of republics in local elections, enabling them to decide for themselves how to organize voting. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia had already proposed laws for direct presidential elections. Local elections in all

7616-400: The Armenian minority was expelled from Shusha . On 17 November 1988, in response to the exodus of tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, a series of mass demonstrations began in Baku 's Lenin Square, lasting 18 days and attracting half a million demonstrators in support of their compatriots in that region. On 5 December 1988, the Soviet police and civilian militiamen moved in, cleared

7752-453: The Baltic states was recognized in September 1991. The Belovezha Accords were signed on 8 December by President Boris Yeltsin of Russia , President Kravchuk of Ukraine , and Chairman Shushkevich of Belarus , recognizing each other's independence and creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to replace the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last republic to leave the Union, proclaiming independence on 16 December. All

7888-409: The CIS charter and are full CIS members (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), one country (Turkmenistan) is an associate member and two countries (Georgia, Ukraine) left the organization in 2009 and in 2018. In 2014, Ukraine declined its CIS chairmanship and considered withdrawal from the organization. In 1994, the CIS countries agreed to create

8024-432: The CPSU, 100 to the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions , 75 to the Communist Youth Union ( Komsomol ), 75 to the Committee of Soviet Women, 75 to the War and Labour Veterans' Organization, and 325 to other organizations such as the Academy of Sciences . The selection process was done in April. In the 26 March general elections, voter participation was an impressive 89.8%, and 1,958 (including 1,225 district seats) of

8160-480: The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), this being an expansion of the previous Collective Security Treaty (CST). Uzbekistan which (alongside Georgia and Azerbaijan) withdrew from the CST in 1999, joined GUAM. Then in 2005, it withdrew from GUAM and joined the CSTO in 2006. On 28 June 2012, Uzbekistan suspended its membership in the CSTO. Three former Soviet states are members of NATO: Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania . Georgia, where both public opinion and

8296-422: The Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Zaporizhzhia region and Kherson region . The Russian occupation authorities announced that all regions had overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining Russia and that there had been a high turnout despite the ongoing war and depopulation. It was widely dismissed as a sham referendum by Ukraine and many other countries. On 30 September, Putin announced in

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8432-670: The EAEU was signed on 29 May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus , Kazakhstan and Russia , and came into force on 1 January 2015. Treaties aiming for Armenia 's and Kyrgyzstan 's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union were signed on 9 October 2014 and 23 December respectively. Armenia's accession treaty came into force on 2 January 2015. Kyrgyzstan ratified its accession's treaty in May 2015, and it came into force in August 2015. Moldova and Tajikistan are prospective members. Seven CIS member states, namely Russia , Belarus , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan and Armenia , have enhanced their military cooperation, establishing

8568-482: The Estonian Popular Front and legalized the flying of the old blue-black-white flag of Estonia, and agreed to a new state language law that made Estonian the official language of the Republic. On 2 October, the Popular Front formally launched its political platform at a two-day congress. Väljas attended, gambling that the Front could help Estonia become a model of economic and political revival, while moderating separatist and other radical tendencies. On 16 November 1988,

8704-400: The Georgian language. While the Soviet system placed severe restrictions on religious intellectual life, traditions continued to survive. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Islamic movements have emerged alongside ethnic and secular ones. Vitaly Naumkin gives the following assessment: "Throughout the time of change, Islam has served as a symbol of identity, a force for mobilization, and

8840-439: The Latvian Popular Front and legalized flying the former carmine red-and-white flag of independent Latvia, and on 6 October he passed a law making Latvian the country's official language. The Popular Front of Lithuania, called Sąjūdis ("Movement"), was founded in May 1988. On 19 October 1988, Gorbachev replaced Ringaudas Songaila , the "old guard" leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania - who had been in office for nearly

8976-408: The Pact began to dissolve itself. The last of the countries to overthrow Communist leadership, Romania , only did so following the violent Romanian Revolution . Russian irredentism Russian troops currently occupy parts of three neighbouring countries: southern and eastern Ukraine , Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia , and the Transnistria region of Moldova . Since it began in 2014,

9112-445: The Politburo as full members. He kept the "power" ministries favorable by promoting KGB Chief Viktor Chebrikov from candidate to full member and appointing Minister of Defence Marshal Sergei Sokolov as a Politburo candidate. The freedom of speech brought by Gorbachev's reforms allowed nationalist movements and ethnic disputes within the Soviet Union to be expressed and grow into dominant political movements. It also led indirectly to

9248-712: The Regional Soviet voted to secede and join with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia . This local vote in a small, remote part of the Soviet Union made headlines around the world; it was an unprecedented defiance of republican and national authorities. On 22 February 1988, in what became known as the " Askeran clash ", thousands of Azerbaijanis marched towards Nagorno-Karabakh, demanding information about rumors of an Azerbaijani having been killed in Stepanakert. They were informed that no such incident had occurred, but refused to believe it. Dissatisfied with what they were told, thousands began marching toward Nagorno-Karabakh, killing (or injuring?) 50. Karabakh authorities mobilised over

9384-418: The Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration № 142-Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union . It also brought an end to the Soviet Union's federal government and General Secretary (also President ) Mikhail Gorbachev 's effort to reform

9520-403: The Soviet Union occurred against a backdrop of economic stagnation and regression within the economy of the USSR . This period marked the breakdown of the Gosplan , the state planning agency responsible for economic planning and inter-republic economic connections, exacerbating the effects on the economies of the post-Soviet states. Most of the formerly Soviet states began the transition to

9656-594: The Soviet Union, which were variously suppressed or tolerated. The CTAG ( Latvian : Cilvēktiesību aizstāvības grupa , lit.   'Human Rights Defense Group') Helsinki-86 was founded in July 1986 in the Latvian port town of Liepāja . Helsinki-86 was the first openly anti-Communist organization in the U.S.S.R., and the first openly organized opposition to the Soviet regime, setting an example for other ethnic minorities' pro-independence movements. On 26 December 1986, 300 Latvian youths gathered in Riga's Cathedral Square and marched down Lenin Avenue toward

9792-447: The Soviet political and economic system in an attempt to stop a period of political stalemate and economic backslide . The Soviet Union had experienced internal stagnation and ethnic separatism. Although highly centralized until its final years, the country was made up of 15 top-level republics that served as the homelands for different ethnicities. By late 1991, amid a catastrophic political crisis, with several republics already departing

9928-421: The State Duma, Oleg Matveychev , had demanded in response to sanctions that the US return Alaska, in addition to Fort Ross, California (which was historically a Russian colony). Matveychev also demanded the recognition of Antarctica as part of Russia, which in total would almost double Russia's territory. In September 2022, referendums on joining Russia were held in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine:

10064-486: The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopted a declaration of national sovereignty under which Estonian laws would take precedence over those of the Soviet Union. Estonia's parliament also laid claim to the republic's natural resources including land, inland waters, forests, mineral deposits, and to the means of industrial production, agriculture, construction, state banks, transportation, and municipal services within

10200-557: The Ukrainian Cultural Club hosted its own observances in Kyiv at the monument to St. Volodymyr the Great , the grand prince of Kyivan Rus . On 16 June 1988, 6,000 to 8,000 people gathered in Lviv to hear speakers declare no confidence in the local list of delegates to the 19th Communist Party conference, to begin on 29 June. On 21 June, a rally in Lviv attracted 50,000 people who had heard about

10336-528: The Ukrainian War and Slobodan Milosevic 's irredentism during the Bosnian War . On 1 March 2022, images emerged in the press showing Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in front of a map which appeared to show invasion plans for Moldova where Russia already has soldiers in the breakaway region of Transnistria. South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov announced his intention to begin

10472-596: The Union and Gorbachev continuing the waning of centralized power, the leaders of three of its founding members , the Russian, Belorussian, and Ukrainian SSRs, declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed . Eight more republics joined their declaration shortly thereafter. Gorbachev resigned on 25 December 1991 and what was left of the Soviet parliament voted to dissolve the union. The process began with growing unrest in

10608-529: The United States suffered in the wake of the Great Depression between 1930 and 1934. The reconfiguration of public finance in compliance with capitalist principles resulted in dramatically reduced spending on health, education and other social programs, leading to a sharp increase in poverty and economic inequality . The economic shocks associated with wholesale privatization resulted in

10744-481: The adjacent park harboring Aleea Clasicilor (The " Alley of Classics [of Literature]"). On 15 January 1988, in a tribute to Mihai Eminescu at his bust on the Aleea Clasicilor, Anatol Șalaru submitted a proposal to continue the meetings. In the public discourse, the movement called for national awakening, freedom of speech, the revival of Moldovan traditions, and for the attainment of official status for

10880-622: The anniversary of Stalin 's mass deportation of Latvians in 1941. The authorities did not crack down on demonstrators, which encouraged more and larger demonstrations throughout the Baltic States. On 18 November 1987, hundreds of police and civilian militiamen cordoned off the central square to prevent any demonstration at Freedom Monument, but thousands lined the streets of Riga in silent protest regardless. On 17 October 1987, about 3,000 Armenians demonstrated in Yerevan complaining about

11016-482: The anti-Akayev climate that led to his overthrow. Economic, political, national, military and social problems have all been factors in separatism in the post-Soviet space. In many cases, problems due to factors such as ethnic divisions existed before the fall of the Soviet Union, and upon the fall of the union were brought into the open. Such territories and resulting military conflicts have so far been: Civil wars unrelated to separatist movements have occurred twice in

11152-463: The beginning of Yeltsin's rebranding as a rebel and rise in popularity as an anti-establishment figure. The following four years of political struggle between Yeltsin and Gorbachev played a large role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 11 November, Yeltsin was fired from the post of First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party . In the years leading up to the dissolution, various protests and resistance movements occurred or took hold throughout

11288-489: The broader Russian invasion of Ukraine . In the political language of Russia and some other post-Soviet states, the term near abroad ( Russian : ближнее зарубежье , romanized :  blizhnee zarubezhe ) refers to the independent republics that emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Increasing usage of the term in English is connected to assertions of Russia's right to maintain significant influence in

11424-651: The community; however, Ukraine has declared its desire not to become a full member state. Because having common borders with the rest of the community is a prerequisite for full membership, Moldova is barred from seeking it. Uzbekistan applied for membership in October 2005, when the process of merging Central Asian Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Community began; it joined on 25 January 2006. Uzbekistan subsequently suspended its membership in 2008. On 10 October 2014 an agreement on

11560-716: The condition of Lake Sevan , the Nairit chemicals plant, and the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant , and air pollution in Yerevan. Police tried to prevent the protest but took no action to stop it once the march was underway. The following day 1,000 Armenians participated in another demonstration calling for Armenian national rights in Karabakh and the proposed unification of both Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. The police tried to physically prevent

11696-923: The conquest of parts of the Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus in 1877 to bring Armenian Christians under the protection of the Tsar may represent one example. Russia has also had an enduring interest in Constantinople (Istanbul), which was envisioned as the centre of Russian power. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was thought that the Russian Federation had given up on plans of territorial expansion or kin-state nationalism, despite some 25 million ethnic Russians living in neighboring countries outside Russia. Stephen M. Saideman and R. William Ayres assert that Russia followed

11832-728: The countries has been rising. The constitutional background for taxation is similar. Central banks are often independent state institutions, which possess the monopoly on managing and implementing a state's or federation's monetary policy. Besides monetary policy, some of them also perform the supervision of the financial intermediary system . Change in gross domestic product (GDP) in constant prices, 1991–2015 *Economy of most Soviet republics started to decline in 1989–1990, thus indices for 1991 do not match pre-reform maximums. **The year when GDP decline switched to GDP growth ***World bank publishes GDP data for Estonia only from 1995 onwards. Figures for Estonia are relative to 1995 GDP. List of

11968-473: The country's various constituent national republics developing into an incessant political and legislative conflict between them and the central government. Estonia was the first Soviet republic to declare state sovereignty inside the Union on 16 November 1988. Lithuania was the first republic to declare full independence restored from the Soviet Union by the Act of 11 March 1990 with its Baltic neighbors and

12104-576: The country, scheduled for November 1989, be postponed until early 1990 because there were still no laws governing the conduct of such elections. This was seen by some as a concession to local Party officials, who feared they would be swept from power in a wave of anti-establishment sentiment. On 25 October 1989, the Supreme Soviet voted to eliminate special seats for the Communist Party and other official organizations in union-level and republic-level elections, responding to sharp popular criticism that such reserved slots were undemocratic. After vigorous debate,

12240-644: The country, with western Ukraine partitioned between other countries, and Ukraine confined to a rump state consisting of the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv Oblast . Some Russian nationalists seek to annex parts of the " near abroad ", such as the Baltic states . Governor of the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevgeny Balitsky has described how "all of the Baltics" were "all our lands, and our people live there," calling to "correct this...through

12376-642: The detention of local activists. The Belarusian Popular Front was established in 1988 as a political party and cultural movement for democracy and independence, similar to the Baltic republics' popular fronts. The discovery of mass graves in Kurapaty outside Minsk by historian Zianon Pazniak , the Belarusian Popular Front's first leader, gave additional momentum to the pro-democracy and pro-independence movement in Belarus. It claimed that

12512-553: The dissolution of the Soviet Union had "robbed" Russia of territories and made Russians "the biggest ethnic group in the world to be divided by borders", calling this an "outrageous historical injustice". After the annexation, the Transnistrian authorities requested Russia annex Transnistria . Following the Crimea annexation, armed Russian-backed separatists seized towns in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, sparking

12648-643: The emergence of Russian-backed states in Ukraine in 2014: the Republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine briefly proclaimed independence before being annexed by Russia in 2014 ; and the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic , both located in Ukraine's Donbas , were occupied and subsequently declared independence in 2014 before being formally annexed by Russia in 2022 , amidst

12784-756: The enactment of the April Novelization , as agreed upon following the Polish Round Table Agreement talks from February to April between the government and the Solidarity trade union. The Polish Solidarity Union, as established through the 1980 August Accords, presented Lech Wałęsa as their candidate, who became the first democratically elected president of Poland. The elections in Poland inspired other Eastern European Soviet Nations to pursue peaceful democratic transitions, and soon

12920-607: The end of 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell. This was also the year that CNN became the first non-Soviet broadcaster allowed to beam its TV news programs to Moscow. Officially, CNN was available only to foreign guests in the Savoy Hotel , but Muscovites quickly learned how to pick up signals on their home televisions. That had a major effect on how Soviets saw events in their country and made censorship almost impossible. The month-long nomination period for candidates for

13056-582: The ex-Soviet republics, with the exception of Georgia and the Baltic states, joined the CIS on 21 December, signing the Alma-Ata Protocol . Russia, as by far the largest and most populous republic, became the USSR's de facto successor state . On 25 December, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers—including control of the nuclear launch codes —to Yeltsin, who was now the first president of

13192-475: The excess deaths of roughly 1 million working age individuals throughout the former Soviet bloc in the 1990s. A study by economist Steven Rosefielde asserts that 3.4 million Russians died premature deaths from 1990 to 1998, partly as the result of the shock therapy policies imposed by the Washington Consensus . The initial transition decline was eventually arrested, and after 1995 the economy in

13328-764: The first group release since the Khrushchev Thaw in the mid-1950s. On 10 September, Boris Yeltsin wrote a letter of resignation to Gorbachev. At the 27 October plenary meeting of the Central Committee, Yeltsin, frustrated that Gorbachev had not addressed any of the issues outlined in his resignation letter, criticized the slow pace of reform, and servility to the general secretary. In his reply, Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of "political immaturity" and "absolute irresponsibility". Nevertheless, news of Yeltsin's insubordination and "secret speech" spread, and soon samizdat versions began to circulate. That marked

13464-523: The future first president of independent Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian , formed the eleven-member Karabakh Committee to lead and organize the new movement. On the same day, when Gorbachev replaced Baghirov with Vezirov as First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party, he also replaced Karen Demirchian with Suren Harutyunyan as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia , however, Harutyunyan quickly decided to run before

13600-405: The interests of Russians outside the federation. "Russia's border doesn't end anywhere". —Vladimir Putin, 24 November 2016 It has been proposed that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 proves Russia remains an expansionist state. Vladimir Putin 's speech on the Crimea annexation was described by analyst Vladimir Socor as a "manifesto of Greater-Russia irredentism". Putin said that

13736-416: The language lost its status in other post-Soviet states after the end of the Soviet Union. It maintains semi-official status in all CIS member states, because it is the organisation's official working language, but in the three Baltic states, the Russian language is not recognized in any official capacity. Georgia, since its departure from the CIS in 2009, has begun operating its government almost exclusively in

13872-471: The largest gathering of Ukrainian Catholics since Stalin outlawed the Church in 1946. On 4 August, which came to be known as "Bloody Thursday", local authorities violently suppressed a demonstration organized by the Democratic Front to Promote Perestroika. Forty-one people were detained, fined, or sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. On 1 September, local authorities violently displaced 5,000 students at

14008-421: The lawyer Anatoly Sobchak . In the first session of the new Congress of People's Deputies (from 25 May to 9 June), hardliners retained control but reformers used the legislature as a platform for debate and criticism, which was broadcast live and uncensored. This transfixed the population since nothing like such a freewheeling debate had ever been witnessed in the Soviet Union. On 29 May, Yeltsin managed to secure

14144-455: The leading rebel republic. On 5 July 1988, when a contingent of troops was sent in to remove demonstrators by force from Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport , shots were fired and one student protester was killed. In September, further large demonstrations in Yerevan led to the deployment of armored vehicles. In the autumn of 1988 almost all of the 200,000 Azerbaijani minority in Armenia

14280-756: The major conclusion of the Revolutions of 1989 and the end of the Cold War . In the aftermath of the Cold War , several of the former Soviet republics have retained close links with Russia and formed multilateral organizations such as the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and the Union State , for economic and military cooperation. On

14416-455: The majority of what has been the traditionally Protestant population there (in Estonia and northern Latvia) is now relatively irreligious. The dominant religion in the other former Soviet countries ( Armenia , Belarus , Georgia , Moldova , Russia and Ukraine ) is Eastern Orthodox Christianity . In most countries, religiosity has increased since the Soviet collapse. Dissolution of

14552-433: The march and after a few incidents, dispersed the demonstrators. In 1988, Gorbachev started to lose control of two regions of the Soviet Union, as the Baltic republics were now leaning towards independence, and the Caucasus descended into violence and civil war. On 1 July 1988, the fourth and last day of a bruising 19th Party Conference, Gorbachev won the backing of the tired delegates for his last-minute proposal to create

14688-562: The might of Russian weapons" and "get our people back, the former subjects of the Russian Empire ". Others also some fear potential escalation due to Russian irredentist aspirations in Northern Kazakhstan . Looking at the Russian efforts as a whole, the news network Al Jazeera has quoted University of San Francisco scholar Stephen Zunes as remarking, "The level of physical devastation and casualties thus far over

14824-422: The most prominent Soviet dissident , returned to Moscow shortly after receiving a personal telephone call from Gorbachev telling him that after almost seven years his internal exile for defying the authorities was over. At the 28–30 January Central Committee plenum , Gorbachev suggested a new policy of demokratizatsiya throughout Soviet society. He proposed that future Communist Party elections should offer

14960-575: The nationalist wind and on 28 May, allowed Armenians to unfurl the red-blue-orange First Armenian Republic flag for the first time in almost 70 years to mark the 1918 declaration of the First Republic. On 15 June 1988, the Armenian Supreme Soviet adopted a resolution formally approving the idea of Nagorno-Karabakh's unification as part of the republic. Armenia, formerly one of the most loyal republics, had suddenly turned into

15096-409: The new states' constitutions define directly or indirectly the economic system of the countries parallel to the democratic transition of the 1990s, emphasising the free market economy . The average government debt in these countries is nearly 44%, but the deviation is great, because the lowest figure is close to 10% but the highest is 97%. The trend shows that the sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio in most of

15232-419: The other hand, the Baltic states and all of the other former Warsaw Pact states became part of the European Union (EU) and joined NATO , while some of the other former Soviet republics like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have been publicly expressing interest in following the same path since the 1990s, despite Russian attempts to persuade them otherwise. Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by

15368-504: The other regional organizations that sprang up in the region since the dissolution of the Soviet Union (other than the CIS). The Union State of Russia and Belarus was originally formed on 2 April 1996 under the name Commonwealth of Russia and Belarus , before being tightened further on 8 December 1999. It was initiated by the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko . On paper, the Union of Russia and Belarus intends further integration, beyond

15504-656: The politics of some post-Soviet States. Heydar Aliyev , after constructing an extensive and ongoing cult of personality , handed the Presidency of Azerbaijan to his son, Ilham Aliyev . Theories about the children of other leaders in Central Asia being groomed for succession abound. The participation of Akayev's son and daughter in the 2005 Kyrgyz parliamentary elections boosted fears of dynastic succession being used in Kyrgyzstan as well, and may have contributed to

15640-545: The post-Soviet states began to recover, with GDP switching from negative to positive growth rates. By 2007, 10 of the 15 post-Soviet states had recovered their 1991 GDP levels. According to economist Branko Milanović , in 2015 many former Soviet republics and other former communist countries still have not caught up to their 1991 levels of output, including Bosnia-Herzegovina , Georgia , Kyrgyzstan , Moldova , Serbia , Tajikistan and Ukraine . He concluded that "only 1 out of 10 people living in 'transition' countries have seen

15776-450: The present gross domestic product (GDP) (figures are given in 2023 United States dollars for the year 2023 according to the IMF ) The post-Soviet states listed according to their Human Development Index scores in 2021: Very High Human Development: High Human Development: Medium Human Development: A number of regional organizations and cooperating blocs have sprung up since

15912-594: The process of annexation by the Russian Federation . Four months into the invasion of Ukraine, Putin compared himself to Russian emperor Peter the Great . He claimed that Tsar Peter had returned "Russian land" to the empire, adding "it is now also our responsibility to return (Russian) land". Peter Dickinson of the Atlantic Council sees these comments as proof that Putin "is waging an old-fashioned imperial war of conquest". On 8 June 2022,

16048-550: The region. The concept has been compared to the Monroe Doctrine , central to American grand strategy in the 20th century. The AP Styleguide recommends avoiding use of the shorthand "former Soviet republic(s)" unless relevant to the story. The 15 states may be divided into four subregions . Not included in these categories are the several de facto independent states presently lacking international recognition (read below: Separatist conflicts ). The dissolution of

16184-486: The region: Since 2003, a number of (largely) peaceful " colour revolutions " have happened in some post-Soviet states after disputed elections, with popular protests bringing into power the former opposition. There is a significant Russophone population in most of the post-Soviet states, whose political position as an ethnic minority varies from country to country. While Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, in addition to Russia, have kept Russian as an official language,

16320-731: The republic's legislature in November 1988 calling for Georgia's independence and in support of Estonia's declaration of sovereignty. Beginning in February 1988, the Democratic Movement of Moldova (formerly Moldavia) organized public meetings, demonstrations, and song festivals, which gradually grew in size and intensity. In the streets, the center of public manifestations was the Stephen the Great Monument in Chișinău, and

16456-587: The republics had already been scheduled to take place between December and March 1990. The six Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe, while nominally independent, were widely recognized as the Soviet satellite states (along with Mongolia ). All had been occupied by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, had Soviet-style socialist states imposed upon them, and had very restricted freedom of action in either domestic or international affairs. Any moves towards real independence were suppressed by military force – in

16592-599: The ruling government favor NATO membership, is in the Intensified Dialogue program with NATO. Ukraine also declared joining NATO as its geopolitical goal once again in 2017 (the first time being right after the Orange Revolution and in the beginning of presidency of Viktor Yushchenko ), after the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych , during which the government officially declared non-alignment status and ceased to seek NATO membership. Other states in

16728-515: The scope of mere cooperation, including the introduction of the rouble as a common currency. The Economic Cooperation Organization was originally formed in 1985 by Turkey , Iran and Pakistan but in 1992 the organization was expanded to include Afghanistan and the six primarily Muslim former Soviet republics: Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan , Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan . The post-Soviet disputed states of Abkhazia , South Ossetia and Transnistria are all members of

16864-652: The second anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, carrying placards with slogans like "Openness and Democracy to the End". Between May and June 1988, Ukrainian Catholics in western Ukraine celebrated the Millennium of Christianity in Kyivan Rus in secret by holding services in the forests of Buniv, Kalush , Hoshi, and Zarvanytsia. On 5 June 1988, as the official celebrations of the Millennium were held in Moscow,

17000-483: The sole legitimate successor in this capacity has been disputed by Ukraine, which has proclaimed by law that it is the successor state to both the Ukrainian SSR and the Soviet Union as a whole. The question of whether Russia or Ukraine succeeded the Soviet Union in 1991 arose due to a comprehensive dispute between the two countries over what had been collective Soviet state-owned properties. The Union Republics of

17136-486: The square by force, and imposed a curfew that lasted ten months. The rebellion of fellow Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh had an immediate effect in Armenia itself. Daily demonstrations, which began in the Armenian capital Yerevan on 18 February, initially attracted few people, but each day the Nagorno-Karabakh issue became increasingly prominent and the numbers swelled. On 20 February, a 30,000-strong crowd demonstrated in

17272-652: The termination of the Eurasian Economic Community was signed in Minsk after a session of the Interstate Council of the EAEC. The Eurasian Economic Community was terminated from 1 January 2015 in connection with the launch of the Eurasian Economic Union . Russia , Belarus , Kazakhstan created a customs union that entered into force in July 2010. Ukraine , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan indicated interest in joining at

17408-570: The territory of Estonia's borders. At the same time the Estonian Citizens' Committees started registration of citizens of the Republic of Estonia to carry out the elections of the Congress of Estonia . The Latvian Popular Front was founded in June 1988. On 4 October, Gorbachev replaced Boris Pugo , the "old guard" leader of the Communist Party of Latvia , with the more liberal Jānis Vagris. In October 1988 Vagris bowed to pressure from

17544-471: The territory of the former Soviet Union. These include: Transnistria , an unrecognized Russian-backed state in eastern Moldova; and Abkhazia and South Ossetia , two partially recognized Russian-backed states in northern Georgia. The United Nations (UN) has historically considered Russian-backed states in the "near abroad" to be illegitimate and instead views them as constituting Russian-occupied territories . The aftermath of Ukraine's Maidan Revolution saw

17680-654: The time. Russia has been eager for Armenia , Moldova and Ukraine to join the custom union instead of the European Union , and the Moldovan break-away state of Transnistria has supported this. In 2013, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia announced plans to seek membership, but division over the issue in Ukraine led to the Revolution of Dignity after the Ukrainian government backed out of an EU Eastern Partnership in favor of

17816-472: The union. In 2014, voters in the Moldovan autonomous region of Gagauzia rejected closer ties to the EU in favor of the union. On 1 January 2012, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus established the Single Economic Space which ensures the effective functioning of a single market for goods, services, capital and labour, and to establish coherent industrial, transport, energy and agricultural policies. The agreement included

17952-517: The vanguard of the Baltic states in pressing for reform. In 1988, Estonia took over the lead role with the foundation of the Soviet Union's first popular front and starting to influence state policy. The Estonian Popular Front was founded in April 1988. On 16 June 1988, Gorbachev replaced Karl Vaino , the "old guard" leader of the Communist Party of Estonia , with the comparatively liberal Vaino Väljas . In late June 1988, Väljas bowed to pressure from

18088-470: The viewpoints of post-Soviet Russian leader Vladimir Putin , Erdi Ozturk, a professor at London Metropolitan University , has commented that irredentist ideology relies upon a "distinction between civilizations by synthesizing nationalism with nostalgic visions of history, memory, and religion." From roughly the 16th century to the 20th century, the Russian Empire followed an expansionist policy. Few of these actions had irredentist justifications, though

18224-537: Was expelled by Armenian nationalists, with over 100 killed in the process. That, after the Sumgait pogrom earlier that year, which had been carried out by Azerbaijanis to ethnic Armenians and led to the expulsion of Armenians from Azerbaijan, was for many Armenians considered an act of revenge for the killings at Sumgait. On 25 November 1988, a military commandant took control of Yerevan as the Soviet government moved to prevent further ethnic violence. On 7 December 1988,

18360-518: Was forced to resign as a result of the Kyrgyz revolution of 2005 . Saparmurat Niyazov in Turkmenistan ruled from independence until his death in 2006, creating a personality cult around himself. His successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, has maintained a personality cult of his own that has replaced the worshipping of Niyazov. The issue of dynastical succession has been another element affecting

18496-433: Was the uncensored live TV coverage of the legislature's deliberations, where people witnessed the previously feared Communist leadership being questioned and held accountable. This example fueled a limited experiment with democracy in Poland , which quickly led to the toppling of the Communist government in Warsaw that summer and in turn sparked uprisings that overthrew governments in the other five Warsaw Pact countries before

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