A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991.[1] An overwhelming majority of 92.3% of voters approved the declaration of independence made by the Verkhovna Rada on 24 August 1991.
1991 Ukrainian independence referendum
1 December 1991
Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?
Voters were asked "Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?"[2] The text of the Declaration was included as a preamble to the question. The referendum was called by the Parliament of Ukraine to confirm the Act of Independence, which was adopted by the Parliament on 24 August 1991.[3] Citizens of Ukraine expressed overwhelming support for independence. In the referendum, 31,891,742 registered voters (or 84.18% of the electorate) took part, and among them 28,804,071 (or 92.3%) voted "Yes".[2]
On the same day, a presidential election took place. In the month up to the presidential election, all six candidates campaigned across Ukraine in favour of independence from the Soviet Union, and a "Yes" vote in the referendum. Leonid Kravchuk, the parliament chairman and de facto head of state, was elected to serve as the first President of Ukraine.[4]
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. By December 1991 all former Soviet Republics except the RSFSR[13] and the Kazakh SSR[13] had formally seceded from the Union.[14] A week after his election, Kravchuk joined with Yeltsin and Belarusian leaderStanislav Shushkevich in signing the Belavezha Accords, which declared that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist.[15] The USSR officially dissolved on 26 December.[16]
Ukrainian media had converted en masse to the independence ideal.
Polls showed 63% support for the "Yes" campaign in September 1991; that grew to 77% in the first week of October 1991 and 88% by mid-November 1991.[17]
The Act of Independence was supported by a majority of participating voters in each of the 27 administrative regions of Ukraine: 24 oblasts, 1 autonomous republic, and 2 special municipalities (Kyiv City and Sevastopol City).[4] Voter turnout was lowest in Eastern and Southern Ukraine.[17] The six regions with the lowest percentage of "yes" votes were Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Odessa Oblasts, Crimea, and Sevastopol; all of those regions still had a majority of registered voters marking their ballots "yes", except for Crimea and Sevastopol.
^ abcIndependence – over 90% vote yes in referendum; Kravchuk elected president of Ukraine 2017-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, The Ukrainian Weekly (8 December 1991)
^Citizens in the Making in Post-Soviet States by Olena Nikolayenko, Routledge, 2001, ISBN0415596041 (page 101)
^Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation by Robert A. Saunders & Vlad Strukov, Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN0810854759 (page 75)
^Turning Points – Actual and Alternate Histories: The Reagan Era from the Iran Crisis to Kosovo by Rodney P. Carlisle and J. Geoffrey Golson, ABC-CLIO, 2007, ISBN1851098852 (page 111)
"Confide in people," Dr. Stanislav Kulchytsky, Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror Weekly), 1–7 December 2001. Available online and .
Vitaliy Riaboshapka. "Referendum in Ukraine: how it is dangerous and why it is even needed (Референдум в Украине: чем опасен и зачем вообще нужен)". Segodnya. 1 December 2019
April 20, 2023
1991, ukrainian, independence, referendum, referendum, declaration, independence, held, ukraine, december, 1991, overwhelming, majority, voters, approved, declaration, independence, made, verkhovna, rada, august, 1991, december, 1991do, support, declaration, i. A referendum on the Act of Declaration of Independence was held in Ukraine on 1 December 1991 1 An overwhelming majority of 92 3 of voters approved the declaration of independence made by the Verkhovna Rada on 24 August 1991 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum1 December 1991Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine The result of the referendum in a bulletin ResultsChoice Votes Yes 28 804 071 92 26 No 2 417 554 7 74 Valid votes 31 221 625 97 90 Invalid or blank votes 670 117 2 10 Total votes 31 891 742 100 00 Registered voters turnout 37 885 555 84 18 Results by regionYes 50 60 80 85 85 90 90 95 95 100 Contents 1 Results 1 1 By region 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Voters were asked Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine 2 The text of the Declaration was included as a preamble to the question The referendum was called by the Parliament of Ukraine to confirm the Act of Independence which was adopted by the Parliament on 24 August 1991 3 Citizens of Ukraine expressed overwhelming support for independence In the referendum 31 891 742 registered voters or 84 18 of the electorate took part and among them 28 804 071 or 92 3 voted Yes 2 On the same day a presidential election took place In the month up to the presidential election all six candidates campaigned across Ukraine in favour of independence from the Soviet Union and a Yes vote in the referendum Leonid Kravchuk the parliament chairman and de facto head of state was elected to serve as the first President of Ukraine 4 From 2 December 1991 onwards Ukraine was globally recognized by other countries as an independent state 5 6 7 Also on 2 December the President of the Russian SFSR Boris Yeltsin recognized Ukraine as independent 8 9 10 11 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 12 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 By December 1991 all former Soviet Republics except the RSFSR 13 and the Kazakh SSR 13 had formally seceded from the Union 14 A week after his election Kravchuk joined with Yeltsin and Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich in signing the Belavezha Accords which declared that the Soviet Union had ceased to exist 15 The USSR officially dissolved on 26 December 16 Results Edit The ballot paper used in the referendum with the text of the Declaration of Independence printed on it Ukrainian media had converted en masse to the independence ideal Polls showed 63 support for the Yes campaign in September 1991 that grew to 77 in the first week of October 1991 and 88 by mid November 1991 17 55 of the ethnic Russians in Ukraine voted for independence 18 ChoiceVotes For28 804 07192 26Against2 417 5547 74Total31 221 625100 00Valid votes31 221 62597 90Invalid blank votes670 1172 10Total votes31 891 742100 00Registered voters turnout37 885 55584 18Source Nohlen amp StoverBy region Edit The Act of Independence was supported by a majority of participating voters in each of the 27 administrative regions of Ukraine 24 oblasts 1 autonomous republic and 2 special municipalities Kyiv City and Sevastopol City 4 Voter turnout was lowest in Eastern and Southern Ukraine 17 The six regions with the lowest percentage of yes votes were Kharkiv Luhansk Donetsk and Odessa Oblasts Crimea and Sevastopol all of those regions still had a majority of registered voters marking their ballots yes except for Crimea and Sevastopol No vote in per Ukrainian Oblast Subdivision Percentage voting for independenceOf votes cast 4 Of electorate 19 Crimean ASSR 54 19 37 20 Cherkasy Oblast 96 03 87Chernihiv Oblast 93 74 85Chernivtsi Oblast 92 78 81Dnipropetrovsk Oblast 90 36 74Donetsk Oblast 83 90 64Ivano Frankivsk Oblast 98 42 94Kharkiv Oblast 86 33 65Kherson Oblast 90 13 75Khmelnytskyi Oblast 96 30 90Kyiv Oblast 95 52 84Kirovohrad Oblast 93 88 83Luhansk Oblast 83 86 68Lviv Oblast 97 46 93Mykolayiv Oblast 89 45 75Odessa Oblast 85 38 64Poltava Oblast 94 93 87Rivne Oblast 95 96 89Sumy Oblast 92 61 82Ternopil Oblast 98 67 96Vinnytsia Oblast 95 43 87Volyn Oblast 96 32 90Zakarpattia Oblast 92 59 77Zaporizhzhia Oblast 90 66 73Zhytomyr Oblast 95 06 86Kyiv City 92 87 75Sevastopol City 57 07 36 20 National Total 90 32 76 21 See also EditDissolution of the Soviet Union 2014 Donbas status referendums 2014 Crimean status referendum Russo Ukrainian War 2014 present References Edit Dieter Nohlen amp Philip Stover 2010 Elections in Europe A data handbook page 1976 ISBN 9783832956097 a b Nohlen amp Stover p1985 Historic vote for independence Archived 2014 03 23 at the Wayback Machine The Ukrainian Weekly 1 September 1991 a b c Independence over 90 vote yes in referendum Kravchuk elected president of Ukraine Archived 2017 10 19 at the Wayback Machine The Ukrainian Weekly 8 December 1991 Ukraine and Russia The Post Soviet Transition by Roman Solchanyk Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers 2000 ISBN 0742510182 page 100 Canadian Yearbook of International Law Vol 30 1992 University of British Columbia Press 1993 ISBN 9780774804387 page 371 Russia Ukraine and the Breakup of the Soviet Union by Roman Szporluk Hoover Institution Press 2000 ISBN 0817995420 page 355 Russia s Revolution from Above 1985 2000 Reform Transition and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime by Gordon M Hahn Transaction Publishers 2001 ISBN 0765800497 page 482 A Guide to the United States History of Recognition Diplomatic and Consular Relations by Country since 1776 Ukraine Office of the Historian The Limited Partnership Building a Russian US Security Community by James E Goodby and Benoit Morel Oxford University Press 1993 ISBN 0198291612 page 48 Ukrainian Independence Worldwide News Ukraine NEWSBRIEFS FROM UKRAINE Archived 2020 11 16 at the Wayback Machine The Ukrainian Weekly 8 December 1991 a b Russia s New Politics The Management of a Postcommunist Society by Stephen K White Cambridge University Press 1999 ISBN 0521587379 page 240 Citizens in the Making in Post Soviet States by Olena Nikolayenko Routledge 2001 ISBN 0415596041 page 101 Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation by Robert A Saunders amp Vlad Strukov Scarecrow Press 2010 ISBN 0810854759 page 75 Turning Points Actual and Alternate Histories The Reagan Era from the Iran Crisis to Kosovo by Rodney P Carlisle and J Geoffrey Golson ABC CLIO 2007 ISBN 1851098852 page 111 a b Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s A Minority Faith by Andrew Wilson Cambridge University Press 1996 ISBN 0521574579 page 128 The Return Russia s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev by Daniel Treisman Free Press 2012 ISBN 1416560726 page 178 Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s A Minority Faith by Andrew Wilson Cambridge University Press 1996 ISBN 0521574579 page 129 a b Russians in the Former Soviet Republics by Pal Kolsto Indiana University Press 1995 ISBN 978 0 253 32917 2 page 191 Ukraine and Russia Representations of the Past by Serhii Plokhy University of Toronto Press 2008 ISBN 978 0 8020 9327 1 page 184 Post Communist Ukraine by Bohdan Harasymiw Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies 2002 ISBN 1895571448External links Edit Law of Ukraine N 1660 XII on organization of referendum in Ukrainian 11 October 1991 Law of Ukraine N 1661 XII on text for referendum in Ukrainian 11 October 1991 The funeral of the empire Leonid Kravchuk Zerkalo Nedeli Mirror Weekly 23 August 1 September 2001 Available online in Russian permanent dead link and in Ukrainian Confide in people Dr Stanislav Kulchytsky Zerkalo Nedeli Mirror Weekly 1 7 December 2001 Available online in Russian and in Ukrainian Vitaliy Riaboshapka Referendum in Ukraine how it is dangerous and why it is even needed Referendum v Ukraine chem opasen i zachem voobshe nuzhen Segodnya 1 December 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum amp oldid 1150517337, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
