Did Yeltsin dissolve the Soviet Union?
Thirty-one years ago on Dec. 25, 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved. Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the leader of the USSR, stepped down. And Boris Yeltsin became president of a newly independent Russia. The following political struggle between Yeltsin and Gorbachev played a large role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Who took over after Yeltsin?
On 31 December 1999, Yeltsin announced his resignation, with his chosen successor, then prime minister Vladimir Putin, succeeding him as the acting president who then was elected to his first presidential term following an election held on 26 March 2000.