#7 The Collapse of the Soviet Union
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, as the people in charge started to change ideologically: away from the former Soviet communism, and more towards a democracy, something both Ukrainian and Russian activists all over the Soviet Union militated for. This led to the president of Russia and the president of Ukraine becoming allies, seeking the independence of their respective territories, away from the Soviet federation and rejecting its legacy.
A referendum held in Ukraine in the same year, lead to the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union. Despite this, the economic reforms were stalling. The Russian President tried to appease Soviet Union loyalists by heavily criticizing the Ukrainian cultural policies, which affirmed their nationalism and tried to question Crimea being theirs. He effectively tried to disapprove the transfer which happened decades before him, bringing about Ukrainian animosity.
The Ukraine borders became concrete in 1997 when the two counties signed a treaty that affirmed their integrity: they had agreed on years before in a memorandum between the nuclear powers in 1994. However, this treaty expired in March 2019.
