December 26 is the day when the Soviet Socialist Republics Union (USSR) collapsed.
Medianews.az reports that on December 25, 1991, the last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, resigned. The next day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR recognized the independence of the republics included in the union, thereby ending the existence of the Soviet Union. Immediately, the Soviet flag (the red flag with the hammer and sickle) was lowered over the Kremlin.
The USSR, established in 1922, included 15 republics until its dissolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan.
Mikhail Gorbachev, born in 1931, was elected the leader of the Soviet Union - General Secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee - on March 11, 1985, and from October 1, 1988, he also chaired the Supreme Soviet, becoming the President of the Soviet Socialist Republics Union (USSR) on March 15, 1990.
The process of the USSR's dissolution accelerated from August 19, 1991. Gorbachev, who declared that his powers ended on December 25, engaged in public activities starting from 1992 and died in August 2022.