December 1, 1991

Ukrainian Independence Referendum

On December 1, 1991, a nationwide referendum is held on the territory of the former USSR to declare Ukraine’s independence.. One question is put on thereferendum, “Do you confirm the Act of Independence of Ukraine?». The text of the Act, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada August 24, 1991,, is published in the ballot paper. Citizens of Ukraine speak in support of independence. 31,891,742 people take part in the referendum. It’s 84.18% of the Ukraine’s population. 28,804,071 people (90.32%) vote in favor of independence. In every single region and settlement, the majority of citizens support the idea of Ukraine’s independence.

In particular, 54.19% of citizens in Crimea vote for independence, 57.07% in Sevastopol, and more than 80% in Donetsk, Luhansk, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions. In Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, and Vinnytsia regions, more than 95% of citizens vote in favor of Ukraine’s independence.

It is the All-Ukrainian referendum that endows the Verkhovna Rada’s Act of Independence with the legal force that states that the Soviet Union as an object of international law ceases to exist and a new independent state, Ukraine, appears on the political map of the world.