The End of the USSR

Twenty years ago on Christmas Day, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Brigid McCarthy takes a look back at why the USSR came crashing down.

Gorbachev, Yeltsin and the Demise of the USSR

There are many Russians who say a critical factor in the demise of the USSR was the power struggle that broke out between Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin.

McDonald’s marks 20 years in Russia

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Twenty years ago, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev was still in power. But the Berlin wall had just come down. And the times they were a-changing. At this pivotal moment, in the bleakness of a Russian winter, a bright new sign came to Moscow. It was the sight of McDonald’s Golden Arches. That was 20 years ago this week. Analyst Masha Lipman was then and still is a resident of Moscow. Download MP3 (Photo: Fred Adler / BBC)

• Voice of America article
• mcdonalds.com
• CBC video archive: McDonalds in Moscow