The Belavezha Accords, signed 29 years ago today, sealed the fate of the Soviet Union. It was check and mate. The West exulted in its victory in the Great Game. The Cold War was won. Democraric forces triumphed over the evil empire. A lot of pieces have been sacrificed over the years: Karabakh, Donbass, North Caucasus, Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

We are now in the middlegame, and enemy pieces are getting dangerously close to our borders. How do you play by the rules if your opponent keeps ignoring them? In this episode, we discuss the breakup of the Soviet Union and the time bombs it left us with.

Channel One Russia