Pravda’s (1911-) coverage of the Human Chain on 24 August 1989, documenting the previous day’s political action by hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians, who linked together in a 600-kilometer-long “living chain” (zhivaia tsep’) that stretched from Tallinn, Estonia to Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Documentation of the 17 March 1991 referendum in which Soviet voters weighed in on whether it was “essential” to “preserve the USSR” as a federation of “equal sovereign republics.” 80% of the eligible population participated, with 77.8% of that number voting YES. 

During perestroika, the Soviet government encouraged media to foster closer ties with citizens, leading to unprecedented reader engagement and evolving perceptions of press independence. In this June 1988 issue of the national weekly Literaturnaia gazeta, a reader objects to the editors’ choice to send a copy of his letter to the Party Central Committee.

Coverage of Soviet tanks rolling into the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius in January 1991 from Pravda, the Russian Communist Party’s press organ since 1911.