1982
•Death of Brezhnev
•Andropov becomes General Secretary
1984
•Death of Andropov
•Chernenko becomes General Secretary
1985
•Death of Chernenko
•Gorbachev becomes General Secretary
1986
•Explosion at Chernob
•Summit at Reykjavik
•new law
•Sakharov released
1987
•2 new laws
•Yeltsin resigns
•Gorbachev vs. Stalin
1988
•Pasternak published
•Gorbachev becomes president
1989
•demonstations in Tbilisi
•Solzhenitsyn published
•fall of the Berlin Wall
•new Presidential System
•National elections
•Gorbachev abandons Brezhnev doctrine
1990
•abolition of “leading role” of General Secretary
•Lithuania secedes from USSR
•Yeltsin elected President
•formation of Russian Communist Party
•new law
•Armenia secedes from USSR
•500 day plan
•plan for gradual econimic reform
1991
•Georgia secedes from the USSR
•Yeltsin elected President
•START signed
•attempted coup in Moscow
•radical economic reform program
•dissolusion of USSR
•Valentin Pavlov
1992
Jan 2: Prime Minister (President) frees prices, ends subsidies to inefficient businesses and privatizes state owned enterprises. The Ruble plummets, pensioners are hit hard when prices sky-rocket, although some entrepreneurs get spectacularly rich. Opposition to Yeltsin arose in the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies, caused by shock of converting from the command economy to the demand economy.
March 31: Federation Treaty signed by all autonomous republics except Chechnya & Tatarstan
May 15: Treaty on Collective Security: Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgystan
April 1: Western nations announce $24 billion aid package for Russia
April 6: Congress of People's Deputies begins its attack on the government
June 15: Yegor Gaidar appointed acting prime minister
Oct 1: Voucher privatization begins
Dec 14: Victor Chernomyrdin replaces Yegor Gaidar as prime minister
1993
March 11: Congress of People's Deputies passes resolution limiting powers of government to implement reforms
March 23: Speaker of Congress Khasbulatov calls for impeachment of Yeltsin
April 3-4: US-Russian summit in Vancouver
August 31: Soviet troops withdrawn from Lithuania (not Latvia & Estonia)
Sept 18: Gaidar rejoins government as first deputy prime minister
Sept 21: President dissolves Congress of People's Deputies and Supreme Soviet of and calls for election of Federal Assembly
Sept 22: Parliament appoints Vice President Rutskoi president
Octr 3: Storming the House of the Soviets: Parliamentary forces attack Ostankino TV and mayor's office
Octr 4: Storming the House of the Soviets: Government forces storm the parliament building
Dec 12: Elections of first Federal Assembly of Russia and referendum to ratify the Russian Constitution
1994
Jan 11: Federal Assembly begins its work
Feb 23: State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly, passes amnesty for political and economic crimes
June 16: Yegor Gaidar resigns as first deputy prime minister
July: Yeltsin meets with G-7 leaders in Naples (G-8: Group of the eight major industrial nations. It includes Japan, Russia, UK, France, Italy, Germany, USA, and Canada.)
Oct 11: Ruble crashes
Nov 28: Russian Security Council votes to send troops to Chechnya
Decr 12: Russian troops invade Chechnya
1995
Jan 27: Federal Assembly bans loans from Central Bank to the government without its approval
June 14: Chechens take hostages at Budennovsk
July: Yeltsin suffers first heart attack
Oct 26: Yeltsin suffers second heart attack
1996
Jan 5: Kozyrev resigns as foreign minister; replaced by Primakov
July 3: Yeltsin defeats Zyuganov in run-off election
August 23: Full-scale combat operations end in Chechnya
August 31: Lebed and Aslan Maskhadov sign peace accord in Chechnya
Nov 5: Yeltsin undergoes quintuple by-pass surgery
Dec 1: Russian troops begin withdrawal from Chechnya
1997
March 21: Yeltsin and Clinton meet in Helsinki to discuss expansion of NATO
May 27: Yeltsin and Clinton sign "Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and the Russian Federation" which creates a permanent joint council including Russia in NATO decision-making.
1998
March 23: Yeltsin fires Chernomyrdin, reorganizes cabinet
April 24: Sergei Kirienko finally confirmed as prime minister
August: Russian financial crisis
Kirienko announces ruble devaluation (August 17)
Market paralyzed by liquidity shortages
Share prices plunge
Russia defaults foreign loans
August 23: Yeltsin sacks entire government, appoints Chernomyrdin interim PM
Sept 10: Victor Chernomyrdin steps aside as Duma rejects nomination twice
Sept 11 Yuri Primakov confirmed prime minister
1999
May 12: Yeltsin sacks cabinet, including Primakov
May 13: Impeachment hearings begins in Duma
May 15: Impeachment vote against Yeltsin fails
May 19: Duma approves Sergei Stepashin as new Prime Minister
August 9: Stepashin dismissed as prime minister
August 16: Vladimir Putin confirmed prime minister
2000
Mar. 27: Putin elected president, gained an unassailable lead over the Communist leader, Gennady Zyuganov, winning more than half of the votes
Aug. 12: Kursk submarine went down, All 118 crew members on board the nuclear submarine perished when the Kursk exploded and sank
2001
Mar. 22: Mir destroyed in fiery descent - After 15 years in space, station re-entered the atmosphere and plunged into the South Pacific
Sep. 24: Putin pledges support for US. Russian President says country will support operations in Afghanistan and widen the cooperation with the alliance
2002
May 13: Russia and US agree arms cuts, Bush says the United States and Russia have reached agreement on cutting their nuclear arsenals
Oct. 23: Chechen gunmen seize theater, Gunmen took more than 700 people hostage, threatening to kill some
Oct. 25: Russian troops storm theater, 36 of the Chechen hostage-takers were killed preventing the explosion of the building. Some of the captors may have escaped
Oct. 27: Gas killed all 115 hostages in raid
2003
Aug. 1: Suicide blast kills 50 A bomber drove a truck laden with explosives through the gates of a military hospital for Chechnya-bound troops
2004
Feb. 6: Metro blast kills 39 in a suspected attempted suicide bombing
Feb. 8: Presidential candidate Rybkin missing, State prosecutors have opened and cancelled a murder inquiry.
Feb. 24: Putin fires premier and Cabinet, President has dismissed Kasyanov and his Cabinet just 2 weeks ahead of the country's presidential election