December 1 All-Ukrainian referendum and Ukraine's independence

How Ukrainians voted for Ukraine's independence 

On December 1, 1991, 90.32% of voters answered the question: "Do you support the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?"

There was not a single region withing the country where the idea of Ukraine's independence did not find support from the majority of Ukrainians.

The referendum recognized the will of the people and confirmed the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. The Act was adopted on August 24, 1991 by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. On that day, 346 MPs voted in favor.

On the eve of the referendum, the monolithic position of the Ukrainian intelligentsia had a great influence on the events in the country. Lina Kostenko, a prominent Ukrainian writer and poet, wrote in her speech to the nation in those days: "People! On Sunday, you will go to the polling stations, but do not think that these are your steps. This is the march of history!"

Vote statistics:

• In Donetsk, Luhansk, Odesa and Kharkiv regions, over 80% of citizens expressed their will to have their own state
• In Crimea, 54.19% of citizens voted for independence
• In Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, Volyn, Rivne, and Zhytomyr regions, over 95% of citizens voted in favor.

The All-Ukrainian referendum granted legal authority to the Act of Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada. This affirmation declared that the Soviet Union, as an entity in international law, no longer existed. An independent state, Ukraine, appeared on the political map of the world.

On December 2, 1991, Poland and Canada recognized Ukraine's independence, and on December 4, Lithuania and Latvia did the same. They were followed by all other countries of the world.

The All-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991, was held on the same day as the first presidential election in Ukraine, and Leonid Kravchuk became the new president.