1991 Soviet coup attempt
August 19–21, 1991
Failed attempt by Communist hardliners to remove Mikhail Gorbachev and stop the new Union Treaty; Boris Yeltsin led the resistance in Moscow, and the coup sped up the end of the Soviet Union.
Battles and events 1
August 24 – December 26, 1991
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
Belovezha and Moscow
Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk
Key commanders
Mikhail Gorbachev
head of state/government
Boris Yeltsin
President of Russia, Led Russia out of the Soviet Union and signed the Belovezha Accords
Leonid Kravchuk
President of Ukraine, Signed the Belovezha Accords
Stanislav Shushkevich
signatory
Gennady Yanayev
Vice President, head of the coup committee