Editing History of Russia (section)

=== Soviet coup attempt, the Transition Period and the end of the Soviet Union ===
{{Main|1991 Soviet coup attempt|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Transition period and cessation of the existence of the Soviet Union|Succession, continuity and legacy of the Soviet Union}}
The [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] was banned in Russia in 1991, although no [[lustration]] has ever taken place, and many of its members became top Russian officials. However, as the Soviet government was still opposed to immediate market reforms, the economic situation continued to deteriorate.

On 24 September, [[RSFSR State Secretary]] [[Gennady Burbulis]] arrived to Boris Yeltsin, who was on vacation at the Black Sea coast. He brought a document “Russia's Strategy for the Transition Period”, which later received the unofficial name “Burbulis Memorandum”. The “memorandum” contained an analysis of the situation in the country, proposals on what should be done without delay, prepared by Yegor Gaidar's group. The document concluded that Russia should take the course of economic independence with a “soft”, “temporary” political alliance with other republics, i.e. to create not a declared, but a truly independent state of Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/30years/790279|title=Меморандум Бурбулиса|date=September 24, 1991}}</ref> 30 years later, Burbulis recalled that the Burbulis Memorandum was the reform concept of Gaidar's group: There was not any secrecy. First Yegor Gaidar made a report at the State Council of the RSFSR, and then Burbulis spoke at the State Council and said he would make a report for Yeltsin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.interfax.ru/30years/790281|title=Геннадий Бурбулис в интервью "Интерфаксу: "Меморандум Бурбулиса" - это концепция реформ группы Гайдара|date=September 24, 1991}}</ref>

As the [[Kommersant]] newspaper wrote on 7 October 1991, a series of conflicts occurred in the [[RSFSR government]] during preparations for the signing of the [[Treaty on the Economic Community (post-Soviet states)|Treaty on the Economic Community]]. In his speech to members of the Russian parliament, RSFSR State Secretary Gennady Burbulis declared Russia's special role as the legal successor to the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the ways of drafting agreements with the republics should be determined by the Russian leadership. Instead of the planned order, he suggested signing a political agreement first, followed by an economic one. The newspaper suggested that Burbulis' goal was to persuade Yeltsin not to sign the agreement as it stands at the time. [[Yegor Gaidar]], [[Alexander Shokhin]] and [[Konstantin Kagalovsky]] were named as the developers of the statement made by Burbulis. In the same time, a group of "isolationist patriots" consisting of [[Mikhail Maley]], [[Nikolay Fyodorov (politician)|Nikolai Fedorov]], [[Alexander Shokhin]], [[Igor Lazarev]] and [[Mikhail Poltoranin]] criticized [[Ivan Silaev]] and [[Yevgeny Saburov]] for wanting to preserve the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1023 | title=Подпись России под соглашением: вот она была, и нету? | date=7 October 1991 }}</ref>

The [[Treaty on Economic Community]] was signed in Moscow on 18 October 1991 in a single copy in the Russian language by the competent representatives, including Boris Yeltsin.<ref>https://www.gorby.ru/userfiles/21_dogovor_ob_ekonomicheskom_soobschestve.pdf</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigenc.ru/c/dogovor-ob-ekonomicheskom-soobshchestve-suverennykh-gosudarstv-1991-0017e0|title=Договор об Экономическом сообществе суверенных государств 1991|date=December 21, 2022|website=Большая российская энциклопедия}}</ref>

By December 1991, the shortages had resulted in the introduction of food [[rationing]] in Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the first time since World War II. Russia received humanitarian food aid from abroad. After the [[Belavezha Accords]], the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia]] withdrew Russia from the Soviet Union on 12 December. The Soviet Union officially ended on 25 December 1991,<ref name="BBC Timeline">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1112551.stm|work=BBC|title=Timeline: Soviet Union|quote=1991 25 December – Gorbachev resigns as Soviet president; US recognises independence of remaining Soviet republics|access-date=22 July 2007|date=3 March 2006|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828024054/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1112551.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[Russia|Russian Federation]] (formerly the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Russian+Soviet+Federal+Socialist+Republic|work=The Free Dictionary|title=Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic|quote=The largest republic of the former Soviet Union; it became independent as the Russian Federation in 1991|access-date=22 July 2007|archive-date=12 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112021153/http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Russian+Soviet+Federal+Socialist+Republic|url-status=dead}}</ref> took power on 26 December.<ref name="BBC Timeline" /> The Russian government lifted price control on 2 January 1992. Prices rose dramatically, but shortages disappeared.