THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE'S INDEPENDENCE

Turning the pages back...

August 24, 1991

In the wake of a failed coup that shocked the Soviet Union five days earlier, the Ukrainian parliament convened an extraordinary session, ostensibly to discuss future protection from military coups. At the meeting on August 24, 1991, the Ukrainian leadership passed the Declaration of Independence, which Leonid Kravchuk read to the world that evening:

"In view of the mortal danger surrounding Ukraine in connection with the state coup in the USSR on 19 August 1991,

- continuing the thousand-year tradition of state-building in Ukraine,

- based on the right of a nation of self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international legal documents, and,

- realizing the Declaration of the State Sovereignty of Ukraine, the Supreme Council 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, on the territory of Ukraine only the Constitution and laws of Ukraine are valid. This act becomes effective at the moment of its approval."

Later in the day, the parliament voted to assume control of military forces in Ukraine, as well as to create a new ministry of defence and armed forces for the new republic. Amid the legislative action, President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as general secretary of the Communist Party, nationalized Party property and severed Party ties to government organizations. In the matter of a day, Ukraine had declared its independence from the Soviet Union, and the Communist Party had collapsed.

Source "The Ukrainian Resurgence" by Bohdan Nahaylo. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 26, 2001, No. 34, Vol. LXIX

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