On December 8, 1991, Ukrainian President Kravchuk (second from left), Belarusian Supreme Soviet Chairman Stanislav Shushkevich (third from left), and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (second from right) signed a declaration that "the Soviet Union as a geopolitical reality [and] a subject of international law has CEASED TO EXIST."The Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR on 24 August 1991.
[Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine
• In view of the mortal danger surrounding Ukraine in connection with the state coup in the USSR on August 19, 1991,
• Continuing the thousand-year tradition of state development in Ukraine,
• Proceeding from the right of a nation to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international legal documents, and
• Implementing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic solemnly declares the Independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state – UKRAINE.
The territory of Ukraine is indivisible and inviolable.
From this day forward, only the Constitution and laws of Ukraine are valid on the territory of Ukraine.
This act becomes effective at the moment of its approval.
— Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, August 24, 1991]
The Act reestablished Ukraine’s state independence from the Soviet Union. The declaration was affirmed by a majority of Ukrainians in all regions of Ukraine by an independence referendum on 1 December, followed by international recognition starting on the following day. Ukrainian independence led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union by 26 December 1991.