Dear compatriots! Fellow citizens! In connection with the situation created by the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I am terminating my activities as President of the USSR.
I make this decision from a position of principle... With these words, the first and last President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev on December 25, 1991 announces the collapse of the USSR.
This is the end of one of the most unusual, amazing and strange empires in world history, the empire that defeated Nazi Germany and sent the first man into space, but which, however, killed millions of people, replacing one tyrannical leader after another.
The current President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has described the end of the USSR as the “greatest geopolitical tragedy”.