A sovereignty referendum was held in the Ukrainian SSR on 17 March 1991 as part of a USSR-wide referendum. Voters were asked two questions on reforming the Soviet Union into a confederation of sovereign states. Most voters supported the proposal, although in the pro-independence oblasts of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Ternopil, voters opted for independence as part of an additional question.

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1991 Ukrainian sovereignty referendum

17 March 1991 (1991-03-17)
Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of a Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis on the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine?
Results
Choice Votes  % Yes 25,224,687 81.69% No 5,655,701 18.31% Valid votes 30,880,388 98.14% Invalid or blank votes 584,703 1.86% Total votes 31,465,091 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 37,689,767 83.48%

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The referendum followed the Declaration of State Sovereignty by the republic's parliament on 16 July 1990 as sovereign republic within the Soviet Union in line with the results.^[1]

In August 1991, with the New Union Treaty having not been adopted by the Soviet Union, a withdrawal from the USSR was proposed. The overwhelming majority of voters backed the idea in an independence referendum in December, approving a declaration of independence.^[2]

Throughout the entire Soviet Union, citizens were first asked:

Do you consider necessary the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics in which the rights and freedom of an individual of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?^[3]

A boycott campaign reduced the against votes in Western Ukraine.^[4]

The Ukrainian SSR included an additional question for all of the republic's citizens; the voters were asked:

Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of a Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis on the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine?^[5]

In the Galician provinces of Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, and Ternopil, voters were asked an additional question regarding the creation of an independent state of Ukraine:^[6][7]

Do you want the Ukraine to become an independent state that by itself decides all questions of domestic and foreign policy, secures equal rights of citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation?^[8]