The modern history of Russia began with the Russian SFSR , a constituent republic of the Soviet Union , gaining more political and economical autonomy amidst the imminent dissolution of the USSR during β, proclaiming its sovereignty inside the Union in June , and electing its first President Boris Yeltsin a year later. The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was the largest Soviet Socialist Republic, but it had no significant independence before, being the only Soviet republic to not have its own branch of the Communist Party.
Russians also dominated the Soviet military and the Communist Party. This ensured that he would be the political leader of the Russian successor state following dissolution. This situation resulted in political turmoil as the Soviet and Russian leadership wrestled for control, which culminated in the August coup , where the Soviet military attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev.
Although the coup was ultimately averted, this situation contributed to rising instability in the Soviet Union. As the USSR was on the verge of collapse by October , Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical reforms, including shock therapy policies to introduce capitalism. This caused a sustained economic recession , and GDP per capita levels eventually returned to their levels by the mids. Following Yeltsin's resignation in , Russia's politics have since been dominated by Vladimir Putin , serving as either President or Prime Minister.
Although the Russian economy has improved significantly under Putin's leadership following relative economic chaos under Yeltsin, Putin has also been widely accused of corruption , authoritarian leadership, and widespread human rights abuses. For the most part, the Russian armed forces were in near complete disarray by , one year after dissolution.
This degraded military effectiveness would become all too clear during the Chechen War , and in the interim posed significant practical challenges for global security and arms control.
