90% said “Yes” — inside Ukraine's 1991 independence vote

Exactly 34 years ago, on December 1, 1991, Ukrainians confirmed their historic choice — the independence of Ukraine. In a nationwide referendum, the majority of citizens supported the Act of Declaration of Independence adopted by the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, on August 24.

Novyny.LIVE provides a recap of what happened on December 1, 1991.

Results of the 1991 Referendum

The ballot contained only one question: Do you confirm the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine? At the time, 90.32% of voters answered "yes."

The referendum was held across 27 administrative units — 24 regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol. 

A total of 84.18% of eligible voters participated, which amounted to 31,891,742 people. Of them, 28,804,071 voters (90.32%) supported independence. There were 34,093 polling stations established for the vote.

Below we publish the breakdown of the referendum results by each region of Ukraine.

On December 1, 1991, the highest level of support for independence — 2,481,157 people voted "yes"— was recorded in the Donetsk region — a territory that is now partially and temporarily occupied by Russia.

Only after the referendum did other countries begin recognizing Ukraine's independence. The first to do so were Poland and Canada, which officially recognized Ukraine on December 2, 1991.

The referendum results were crucial — they granted legitimacy to the Act of Declaration of Independence in the eyes of the international community.

The first presidential election

It is also worth noting that Ukraine's first presidential election was held on the same day as the referendum. As a result, every voter received two ballots. Leonid Kravchuk won the presidential election, receiving 61.59% of the vote.

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