Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and the Way Things Looked from Kyiv.

This article analyzes Vladislav M. Zubok’s book *Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union* through the lens of Ukrainian perspectives on the Soviet dissolution, emphasizing the complex interplay between Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, Boris Yeltsin’s Russia, and national movements within the Soviet republics. It highlights how Gorbachev’s Leninist-inspired reforms unintentionally created political space for republics like Ukraine to assert sovereignty, while Ukrainian political dynamics involved a broad “national-democratic symbiosis” rather than simple nationalist versus communist divides. The article also discusses the ambiguous roles of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Ukrainian leaders such as Leonid Kravchuk in navigating independence, noting tensions between Moscow’s imperial legacies and emerging republican identities. Finally, it draws parallels between late Soviet-era strategies toward “separatist” republics and contemporary Russian policies toward Ukraine, underscoring the enduring complexities of post-Soviet statehood and identity.