Chronology of Russian History

Post-Soviet Period



THE POST-SOVIET PERIOD, 1991—


1991-- BORIS NIKOLAEVICH YELTSIN
   January
  • Soviet army attacks public buildings in Riga and Vilnius
  •    June 12
  • Boris Yeltsin becomes first democratically elected Russian President
  •    July 10
  • Yeltsin's inauguration
  • Bodies of Nicholas II and family exhumed

  • THE AUGUST 1991 COUP
       August 19
  • Yanayev, Pugo, Yazov and 3 others announce take-over
  •    August 20
  • Yeltsin speaks to crowd from tank then barricades himself in Parliament building
  •    August 21
  • Latvia declares its independence
  • Gorbachev returns from house arrest in Crimea
  •    August 22
  • Pugo commits suicide
  •    August 24
  • Gorbachev resigns as head of CP and Yeltsin closes Pravda and disbands CP

  •    Sept 5
  • State Council set up by Congress of People's Deputies to govern in emergency
  •    Sept 7
  • Baltic states recognized
  •    Fall
  • Leningrad renamed 'St. Petersburg'
  •    Nov 1
  • COMECON dissolves
  •    Nov 15
  • Freedom to import and export established
  •    Dec1
  • Ukrainian referendum on independence passed by 90.3%
  •    Dec 8
  • Presidents of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine sign treaty to abolish USSR and form CIS
  •    Dec 25
  • Gorbachev announces his resignation and USSR ceases to exist

  • 1992
       Jan 2
  • Prime Minister frees prices
  • Ruble plummets; prices sky-rocket
  •    March 31
  • Federation Treaty signed by all autonomous republics except Chechnya & Tatarstan
  •    May 6
  • Gorbachev closes an era at Westminster College
  •    May 15
  • Treaty on Collective Security: Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan
  •    April 1
  • Western nations announce $24 billion aid package for Russia
  •    April 6
  • Congress of People's Deputies begins its attack on the government
  •    June 15
  • Yegor Gaidar appointed acting prime minister
  •    Oct 1
  • Voucher privatization begins
  •    Dec 14
  • Victor Chernomyrdin replaces Yegor Gaidar as prime minister

  • 1993
       March 11
  • Congress of People's Deputies passes resolution limiting powers of government to implement reforms
  •    March 20
  • Yeltsin introduces 'special presidential rule'
  •    March 23
  • Speaker of Congress Khasbulatov calls for impeachment of Yeltsin
  •    April 3-4
  • US-Russian summit in Vancouver
  •    April 25
  • Referendum supports the president and the reforms
  •    August 31
  • Soviet troops withdrawn from Lithuania (not Latvia & Estonia)
  •    Sept 18
  • Gaidar rejoins government as first deputy prime minister
  •    Sept 21
  • President dissolves Congress of People's Deputies and Supreme Soviet of RF and calls for election of Federal Assembly
  •    Sept 22
  • Parliament appoints Vice President Rutskoi president

  • STORMING OF THE HOUSE OF THE SOVIETS, October 2-4
       Octr 3
  • Parliamentary forces attack Ostankino TV and mayor's office
  •    Octr 4
  • Government forces storm the parliament building

  •    Dec 12
  • Elections of first Federal Assembly of Russia and referendum to ratify Russian Constitution

  • 1994
       Jan 11
  • Federal Assembly begins its work
  •    Feb 23
  • State Duma passes amnesty for political and economic crimes
  •    June 16
  • Yegor Gaidar resigns as first deputy prime minister
  •    July
  • Yeltsin meets with G-7 leaders in Naples
  •    Oct 11
  • Ruble crashes
  •    Oct 28
  • Solzhenitsyn addresses the State Duma
  •    Nov 28
  • Russian Security Council votes to send troops to Chechnya Sakharov Institute Chechnya brief
  •    Decr 12
  • Russian troops invade Chechnya

  • 1995
       Jan 27
  • Federal Assembly bans loans from Central Bank to the government without its approval
  •    spring
  • Russians massacre villagers in Samashky
  •    June 14
  • Chechens take hostages at Budennovsk
  •    July
  • Yeltsin suffers first heart attack
  •    Oct 26
  • Yeltsin suffers second heart attack
  •    Dec 17
  • CPRF under Gennady Zyuganov dominates Duma elections

  • 1996
       Jan 5
  • Kozyrev resigns as foreign minister; replaced by Primakov
  •    March 29
  • Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan sign integration accords in Moscow
  •    April 2
  • Russia & Belarus sign 'Agreement on the Formation of a Community'
  •    June 16
  • Presidential primaries: Yeltsin & Zyuganov (Communist Party) win
  •    June 26
  • Ukrainian Parliament adopts constitution
  •    July 3
  • Yeltsin defeats Zyuganov in run-off election
  •    July 12
  • Ukrainian constitution signed by President Kuchma
  •    August 5
  • Chechen rebels re-take Grozny
  •    August 23
  • Full-scale combat operations end in Chechnya
  •    August 31
  • Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov sign peace accord in Chechnya
  •    Nov 5
  • Yeltsin undergoes quintuple by-pass surgery
  •    Nov 28
  • Belorussian President Lukashenko signs new constitution extending his powers and replaces the parliament
  •    Dec 1
  • Russian troops begin withdrawal from Chechnya

  • 1997
       Jan 1
  • New Criminal Code replaces 1960 Soviet code
  •    Jan 27
  • Chechen elections held; Aslan Maskhadov wins with 65%
  •    March 21
  • Yeltsin and Clinton meet in Helsinki to discuss expansion of NATO
  •    April
  • Union Treaty signed
  •    May 26
  • Russian-Belarus Union Charter signed by Lukashenko and Yeltsin
  •    May 27
  • Yeltsin and Clinton sign "Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation" which creates a permanent joint council including Russia in NATO decision-making.
  •    June 11
  • Russian-Belarus Union Charter goes into effect
  •    June 28
  • Tajik Peace and National Reconciliation Accord signed in Moscow

  • 1998
       March 23
  • Yeltsin fires Chernomyrdin, reorganizes cabinet
  •    April 24
  • Sergei Kirienko finally confirmed as prime minister
  •    May 27
  • Massive sell-off of Russian bonds, securities and rubles
  •    July 17
  • Nicholas II and family interred in St. Petersburg
  •    August
  • Russian financial crisis
    • Kirienko announces ruble devaluation (August 17)
    • Market paralyzed by liquidity shortages
    • Share prices plunge
    • Russia defaults foreign loans
  •    August 23
  • Yeltsin sacks entire government, appoints Chernomyrdin interim PM
  •    Sept 10
  • Victor Chernomyrdin steps aside as Duma rejects nomination twice
  •    Sept 11
  • Yuri Primakov confirmed prime minister

  • 1999
       May 12
  • Yeltsin sacks cabinet, including Primakov
  •    May 13
  • Impeachment hearings begins in Duma
  •    May 15
  • Impeachment vote against Yeltsin fails
  •    May 19
  • Duma approves Sergei Stepashin as new Prime Minister
  •    August 9
  • Stepashin dismissed as prime minister
  •    August 16
  • Vladimir Putin confirmed prime minister
  •    September
  • Russian money-laundering scheme via BONY unravels

  • 2000
       March 26
  • Vladimir Putin elected president


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    © 1996 Robert Beard