Read the passage and answer the question:

The Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War. The Soviet economy was then more developed than the rest of the world except for the US. It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron and steel, machinery production, and a transport sector that connected its remotest areas with efficiency. It had a domestic consumer industry that produced everything from pins to cars, though their quality did not match that of the Western capitalist countries. The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens, and the government subsidised basic necessities including health, education, childcare and other welfare schemes. State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

Which of the following statements is correct?

Statement A- Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union.

Statement B- The Soviet Union disintegrated in December 1991.

Both statements are correct.

The correct answer is Option 3- Both statements are correct.

Statement A- Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union. (correct)

Statement B- The Soviet Union disintegrated in December 1991. (correct)

Mikhail Gorbachev (Born 1931): Last leader of the Soviet Union (1985- 91); introduced economic and political reform policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness); stopped the arms race with the US; withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and eastern Europe; helped in the unification of Germany; ended the Cold War; blamed for the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

1991 December 25: Gorbachev resigns as the President of the Soviet Union; the end of the Soviet Union.