The Soviet Union formally dissolved on Dec. 26, 1991. Ukraine's Supreme Council, however, had declared independence three months earlier, just days after a failed coup attempt in Moscow exposed the cracks spreading within the Kremlin as it struggled to maintain order and implement reforms. With Ukraine second in importance in the Soviet Union only to Russia itself, the move signaled that the socialist state's days were numbered. The years since have been eventful for Ukraine, to say the least. It has undergone several dynamic and often disruptive developments: the transition from communism to democracy in the 1990s, the 2004 Orange Revolution, and the Euromaidan uprising a decade later. Now a conflict between Ukrainian troops and separatists rages in the country's east, and Crimea has fallen into Russia's hands. All the while, Moscow has steadily built up its forces in the region and along Ukraine's borders.