United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan to monitor the peace and demobilization. The mission was headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Tajikistan was in a state of political turmoil for months after the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic declared independence from the Soviet Union in September 1991. The United Tajik Opposition, an alliance of democratic, liberal and Islamic forces were able to take power in mid-1992 for a short time, after which Emomali Sharipani Ramona's government forces were able to regain control militarily. According to the United Nations, "by mid-1993, in a country of under 6 million, an estimated 50,000 people, mostly civilians, had been killed, some 600,000 had
Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Lithuanian SSR declared state sovereignty within its borders during perestroika. On 11 March 1990, the Republic of Lithuania was declared to be re-established as an independent state and the declaration (while considered illegal by the Soviet authorities) was recognized by Western powers immediately prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union itself recognized Lithuanian independence on 6 September 1991. On 23 August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocols. These documents allowed the two states to divide Europe into spheres of influence. After originally falling into Germany's sphere of influence,