In August 1991, a coup took place in Moscow — a move by part of the Soviet leadership to forcibly stop the collapse of the USSR. A group of officials and generals who did not want to lose power announced that Gorbachev was ill, deployed troops in Moscow, and tried to restore totalitarian control.

Instead of strengthening the empire, it began to crumble even faster. The Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine was in recess, but the events forced deputies to urgently convene a session. The draft of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was written by Levko Lukianenko in an ordinary school notebook. He explained: “We have such a unique moment that we must solve the main task: to proclaim Ukraine an independent state. If we do not do this now, we will never be able to.”

On August 24, 1991, the Verkhovna Rada passed the Act of Declaration of Independence. The text consisted of 93 words, was typed on a typewriter, and fit on a single A4 sheet. It was supported by 346 deputies.

On December 1, a nationwide referendum was held. The ballot had only one question: “Do you confirm the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine?” Over 90% of citizens answered “yes.” Independence became the choice of the people.

Interestingly, until that moment, Ukraine had celebrated independence on July 16 — the day in 1990 when the Declaration of State Sovereignty was adopted. Abroad, before the official holiday was established, Independence Day was observed on January 22 — the date of the proclamation of the Unification Act of the UPR and WUPR.