13 January — Armenian pogroms began in Baku.
20 January — Soviet troops entered the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku.
12 February — in Dushanbe, a political confrontation began between government forces and the opposition, which led to civil war.
14 March — the extraordinary 3rd Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR elected M. S. Gorbachev as President of the USSR, making him the first and last President of the USSR.
29 May — B. N. Yeltsin was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
12 June — the Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR.
24 June — the last concert by Viktor Tsoi and the band Kino, held at the Luzhniki Stadium.
15 August — Viktor Tsoi died.
15 October — Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to reducing international tensions and for pursuing the policy of glasnost.