<P> By 7 November 1991, most newspapers referred to the country as the' former Soviet Union' . </P> <P> The final round of the Soviet Union's collapse began with a Ukrainian popular referendum on December 1, 1991, in which 90 percent of voters opted for independence . The secession of Ukraine, long second only to Russia in economic and political power, ended any realistic chance of Gorbachev keeping the Soviet Union together even on a limited scale . The leaders of the three principal Slavic republics, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (formerly Byelorussia), agreed to discuss possible alternatives to the union . </P> <P> On December 8, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus secretly met in Belavezhskaya Pushcha, in western Belarus, and signed the Belavezha Accords, which proclaimed the Soviet Union had ceased to exist and announced formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a looser association to take its place . They also invited other republics to join the CIS . Gorbachev called it an unconstitutional coup . However, by this time there was no longer any reasonable doubt that, as the preamble of the Accords put it, "the USSR, as a subject of international law and a geopolitical reality, is ceasing its existence ." </P> <P> On December 12, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR formally ratified the Belavezha Accords and renounced the 1922 Union Treaty . It also recalled the Russian deputies from the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . The legality of this action was questionable, since Soviet law did not allow a republic to unilaterally recall its deputies . However, no one in either Russia or the Kremlin objected . Any objections from the latter would have likely had no effect, since the Soviet government had effectively been rendered impotent long before December . On the surface, it appeared that the largest republic had formally seceded . However, this is not the case . Russia apparently took the line that it was not possible to secede from a country that no longer existed . Later that day, Gorbachev hinted for the first time that he was considering stepping down . </P>

Where did the fall of the soviet union take place