<P> The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26 , 1991 . It was a result of the declaration number 142 - Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union . The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ) , although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all . On the previous day , Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev , the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union , resigned , declared his office extinct , and handed over its powers -- including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes -- to Russian President Boris Yeltsin . That evening at 7 : 32 , the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag . </P>
<P> The Soviet Union was dissolved on December 26 , 1991 . It was a result of the declaration number 142 - Н of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union . The declaration acknowledged the independence of the former Soviet republics and created the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ) , although five of the signatories ratified it much later or did not do so at all . On the previous day , Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev , the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union , resigned , declared his office extinct , and handed over its powers -- including control of the Soviet nuclear missile launching codes -- to Russian President Boris Yeltsin . That evening at 7 : 32 , the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin for the last time and replaced with the pre-revolutionary Russian flag . </P>
who was the head of the soviet union when it collapsed
who was the head of the soviet union when it collapsed
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev