Ukraine's territory (including the Crimean Peninsula) was the same as that of the Ukrainian SSR with a land area of about 603,700 square kilometres (233,100 sq mi).

Instead of saving the Soviet regime, the reforms triggered a number of popular upheavals in Europe, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

On July 16, 1990, the Ukrainian SSR's parliament issued its 12th legislation proclaiming the sovereignty of Ukraine's territory and the country eventually declared its independence on August 24, 1991.

[4] The same day, Leonid Kravchuk, head of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, was elected as the country's first president.

However, Kuchma fails to obtain a majority in the following legislative election by parliament and had to share power with the opposition.