Soviet media issue the first public notice of the Chernobyl accident

The leaders met for the first time at the Geneva Summit. Their talks began a new phase of direct engagement, but the encounter remained a negotiation between nuclear superpowers whose decisions...

Reagan and Gorbachev issued a joint statement affirming that nuclear war could not be won and must never be fought, while agreeing to continue talks. The declaration mattered as a diplomatic signal...

The Soviet leader proposed eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide by 2000. The plan was a diplomatic initiative by a nuclear superpower and an appeal to reduce the danger its own arsenal helped create.

The congress endorsed perestroika and called for economic acceleration while preserving the party’s leading role. Public promises of renewal confronted entrenched centralized authority and the Union’s...

A reactor accident released radioactive materials across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and beyond. The evacuation and cleanup exposed residents and workers to serious risk, while secrecy delayed public...

In his televised address, Gorbachev discussed the accident after nearly three weeks of limited public disclosure. His speech did not erase the consequences of delayed evacuation and uneven access to...

After years of confinement in Gorky, physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow. His release signaled a change in political climate while leaving many political...

Gorbachev called for democratization within the party and greater competition in elections. The proposals widened public debate but kept reform under party leadership and did not yet establish...

The law promised enterprises more autonomy and introduced new accounting and labor rules. It aimed to improve productivity without ending central planning, and its effects varied across industries and...

Gorbachev and Reagan signed a treaty eliminating an entire class of intermediate-range nuclear missiles. European publics had campaigned against deployments; verification and superpower bargaining...