Former Russian Premier: The Dissolution of the Soviet Union Had Procedural Flaws and Still Retains Legal Status

Former Russian Prime Minister Stepanov agrees that there were legal defects in the dissolution of the Soviet Union: "The Soviet Union still exists in a legal sense."

Sergei Stepashin, chairman of the Russian Bar Association and former prime minister, stated that the procedure for the dissolution of the Soviet Union was violated, and from a legal perspective, the Soviet Union still exists.

Stepashin commented on the remarks made by Russian presidential advisor Anton Kobyakov a few days ago, who said that the Soviet Union "still exists in a legal sense" and that the Ukrainian crisis should also be regarded as an "internal affair." He fully agreed with the statement that the procedure for the dissolution of the Soviet Union was violated. Kobyakov believed that the Soviet Union was established according to the decision of the Congress of People's Deputies (i.e., the Supreme Soviet), so it should also be dissolved according to the decision of the Congress of People's Deputies, not by Yeltsin, Shushkevich, and Kravchuk.

"We need to remember this legal conflict to deal with various situations, especially when we are fighting against the Nazis in Ukraine, so that we can understand who we are fighting against," Stepashin said. "From a legal perspective, Kobyakov is right. Ukraine was one of the first countries to slowly detach from the Soviet Union, especially after the establishment of the State Emergency Committee."

On December 26, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union passed a resolution declaring the dissolution of the Soviet Union based on the Belavezha Accords signed on December 8 and the Alma-Ata Declaration signed on December 21. At that time, the leaders of the republics jointly decided to terminate the existence of the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

However, according to the constitution, Russia is the legal successor of the Soviet Union, so the question of whether the Soviet Union legally existed naturally disappeared.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833148763120643/

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