Creation of the State Emergency Committee. State Committee for Emergency Situations

The temporary governing body and the group of senior leaders of the USSR that was part of it, made an attempt on August 19-21, 1991 to establish a state of emergency in the USSR, characterized by other political forces as a coup d'etat.

In the conditions of the crisis of the policy of Perestroika, a number of senior leaders decided to prevent the signing of a new Union Treaty scheduled for August 20, 1991, which weakened the powers of the union center (in reality, it was already losing control over the country). Hoping to protect the USSR as a centralized state, on August 17, a group of future members of the State Emergency Committee gathered for a meeting at which they advocated changing the course of state policy to a more authoritarian one in order to preserve the USSR. On August 18, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee O. Shenin, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council O. Baklanov, and First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council O. Baklanov arrived to visit USSR President M. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in Foros. former manager the apparatus of the President of the USSR V. Boldin, the head of the security department of the KGB of the USSR Y. Plekhanov, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR V. Varennikov and others. They demanded that the president introduce a state of emergency in the country. According to the participants in this conversation, Gorbachev answered vaguely, recommended action, but did not endorse the documents proposed for signature on the introduction of a state of emergency. Gorbachev's communications were cut off, but Gorbachev's security guards remained loyal to the President of the USSR.

On the morning of August 19, the country learned from reports from all official media that M. Gorbachev could not fulfill the duties of President of the USSR for health reasons. Therefore, his powers are transferred to Vice President G.I. Yanaev, it was decided to introduce a state of emergency in certain areas of the USSR for a period of 6 months. To govern the country, a State Committee for state of emergency in the USSR consisting of: Baklanov O.D. - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, V.A. Kryuchkov - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, Pavlov V.S. - Prime Minister of the USSR, Pugo B.K. - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, V.A. Starodubtsev - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR, Tizyakov A.I. - President of the Association state enterprises and objects of industry, construction, transport and communications of the USSR, Yazov D.T. - Minister of Defense of the USSR, Yanaev G.I. - Acting President of the USSR. An appeal from the State Emergency Committee was read out, criticizing Negative consequences Perestroika and calls for strengthening state power. It tried to combine Soviet-communist stereotypes with sovereign-patriotic and moderate-liberal views. Its controversial nature and the predominance of democrats in social movement this time excluded noticeable speeches in support of the State Emergency Committee. For the democratic public, the appeal was an example of reactionary demagoguery.

On August 19, armored vehicles and troops were introduced into Moscow, who took protection of key government agencies. At the same time, the key leaders of the democratic movement of the 80s and early 90s were not arrested. The State Emergency Committee sought to put pressure on them, but refrained from reprisals. According to one version, the KGB Alpha group received an order to arrest B. Yeltsin, but refused to carry it out. The State Emergency Committee decided to temporarily limit the list of published newspapers and other periodicals to 9 official newspapers: “Trud”, “Rabochaya Tribuna”, “Izvestia”, “Pravda”, “Krasnaya Zvezda”, “ Soviet Russia", "Moskovskaya Pravda", "Lenin's Banner", "Rural Life".

The actions of the Emergency Committee were perceived in the country as a coup d'etat. Manezhnaya Square and the square at the central entrance to the House of Soviets of the RSFSR (“ The White house") in Moscow were filled with supporters of democracy. B. Yeltsin arrived here and read out an address “To the Citizens of Russia,” in which he stated that forceful methods in solving political problems are unacceptable, all decisions of the State Emergency Committee are declared illegal, and an immediate convening of an emergency Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR is necessary. Yeltsin declared an indefinite general strike and demanded an independent medical examination Gorbachev, since the entire legitimacy of the State Emergency Committee was based solely on his illness. The construction of barricades began near the building of the House of Soviets of Russia, where tens of thousands of people were on duty, ready to protect deputies and the leadership of Russia.

Faced with decisive resistance, the members of the State Emergency Committee did not know what to do. During their speech at the press conference, Yanaev’s hands trembled, which showed the whole country the psychological weakness of the dictatorship.

The coup caused conflicting reactions in the regions of Russia and the republics of the USSR. Some leaders recognized the State Emergency Committee, others waited. The Emergency Committee was strongly condemned by most Western countries. The Supreme Council of Russia outlawed the State Emergency Committee. Several tanks went over to the side of the White House defenders (according to one version, they only changed their deployment), which gave the masses of Democrats confidence that the army would not suppress mass demonstrations.

Finding themselves in political isolation, the leaders of the State Emergency Committee did not dare to storm the White House. But while armored personnel carriers were patrolling the Garden Ring on the night of August 21, clashes occurred between soldiers and demonstrators, during which three demonstrators were killed.

On the morning of August 21, the State Emergency Committee announced the withdrawal of troops. Its leaders went to Foros to negotiate with Gorbachev. An armed delegation of Yeltsin supporters, headed by Vice-President of the RSFSR A. Rutsky, was sent after them. They arrested some of the leaders of the State Emergency Committee. The rest were arrested in Moscow. During an arrest attempt on August 22, USSR Interior Minister Pugo shot himself and his wife. The central streets of Moscow were filled with jubilant people. The crowd demolished the monument to F. Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka Square.

On August 22, Gorbachev flew to Moscow, and it soon became clear that he had lost real power in the country. It passed to the republican leaders and, above all, to Boris Yeltsin. The speech of the State Emergency Committee disrupted the signing of the Union Treaty, provoked the declaration of independence by the majority of the republics of the USSR, which decided to distance themselves from the unpredictable Moscow, and accelerated the collapse of the USSR.

Sources:

August-91. M., 1991; Gorbachev M. Life and reforms. M., 1996; Yeltsin B.N. Notes from the President. M., 1994; Red or white? The drama of August: facts, hypotheses, clash of opinions. M., 1992; Stepankov V., Lisov E. Kremlin conspiracy: Investigative version. M., 1992; Chernyaev A.S. Six years with Gorbachev. According to diary entries. M., 1993

After the failed coup attempt on August 21, 1991, all members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested, with the exception of the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo, who committed suicide.

From the point of view of the creators of the State Emergency Committee themselves, their actions were aimed at restoring the rule of law in the USSR and stopping the collapse of the state. Their actions did not receive a legal assessment, since all arrested members of the State Emergency Committee were amnestied even before the trial. Only V.I. Varennikov, who was not a member of the committee, voluntarily appeared before the court and was acquitted.

Formation of the State Emergency Committee

Preparing to create a committee

From the “Conclusion on the materials of the investigation into the role and participation of USSR KGB officials in the events of August 19-21, 1991”:

...in December 1990, the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.A. Kryuchkov instructed the former deputy head of the PGU KGB of the USSR V.I. Zhizhin and assistant former first Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Grushko V.F. Egorov A.G. to carry out the study of possible initial measures to stabilize the situation in the country in the event of a state of emergency. From the end of 1990 to the beginning of August 1991, V. A. Kryuchkov, together with other future members of the State Emergency Committee, took possible political and other measures to introduce a state of emergency in the USSR by constitutional means. Having not received the support of the President of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, from the beginning of August 1991 they began to implement specific measures to prepare for the introduction of a state of emergency by illegal means.

From August 7 to 15, V. A. Kryuchkov repeatedly held meetings with some members of the future State Emergency Committee at secret facility PGU KGB USSR under code name UABCF. During the same period of time, V.I. Zhizhin and A.G. Egorov, at the direction of Kryuchkov, carried out adjustments to the December documents on the problems of introducing a state of emergency in the country. They, with the participation of the then commander of the airborne forces, Lieutenant General P.S. Grachev, prepared data for V.A. Kryuchkov possible reaction population of the country to introduce a state of emergency in a constitutional form. The content of these documents was later reflected in official decrees, appeals and orders of the State Emergency Committee. On August 17, Zhizhin V.I. participated in the preparation of theses for V.A. Kryuchkov’s speech on television in the event of a state of emergency.

Participants in the conspiracy at various stages of its implementation assigned the USSR KGB a decisive role in:

  • removing the President of the USSR from power by isolating him;
  • blocking possible attempts by the President of the RSFSR to resist the activities of the State Emergency Committee;
  • establishing constant control over the whereabouts of the heads of government bodies of the RSFSR, Moscow, people's deputies of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Moscow City Council, known for their democratic views, and major public figures with a view to their subsequent detention;
  • implementation together with parts Soviet army and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stormed the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR with the subsequent internment of those captured there, including the Russian leadership.

from August 17 to 19, some special forces of the KGB of the USSR and special forces of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR were put on heightened combat readiness and redeployed to pre-designated places to participate, together with units of the SA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in measures to ensure the state of emergency. Using specially created groups, on August 18, USSR President Gorbachev was isolated in a vacation spot in Foros, and RSFSR President Yeltsin and other opposition-minded individuals were placed under surveillance.

Members of the Emergency Committee

  1. Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich (b. 1932) - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  2. Kryuchkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich (1924-2007) - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  3. Pavlov Valentin Sergeevich (1937-2003) - Prime Minister of the USSR.
  4. Pugo Boris Karlovich (1937-1991) - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  5. Starodubtsev Vasily Aleksandrovich (b. 1931) - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  6. Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich (b. 1926) - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR.
  7. Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich (b. 1923) - Minister of Defense of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  8. Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich (b. 1937) - Vice-President of the USSR, Chairman of the State Emergency Committee, member of the CPSU Central Committee.

Political positions of the State Emergency Committee

In its first appeal, the State Emergency Committee assessed the general mood in the country as very skeptical towards the new political course towards dismantling the highly centralized federal structure of governing the country, the one-party political system And government regulation economy, condemned the negative phenomena that new course, according to the compilers, gave rise to speculation and shadow economy, proclaimed that “the development of the country cannot be built on the decline in the living standards of the population” and promised to strictly restore order in the country and solve the main economic problems, without, however, mentioning specific measures.

Events of August 19-21, 1991

After the August events

"Accomplices" and "sympathizers"

After the failure of the August putsch, in addition to members of the State Emergency Committee, some persons were brought to criminal liability, who, according to the investigation, actively assisted the State Emergency Committee. All of them were released under an amnesty in 1994. Among the “accomplices” were:

  • Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov (born 1930) - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; his address was broadcast on TV and radio along with the main documents of the State Emergency Committee.
  • Shenin Oleg Semyonovich (1937-2009) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
  • Prokofiev Yuri Anatolyevich (born 1939) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
  • Varennikov Valentin Ivanovich (1923-2009) - army general.
  • Boldin Valery Ivanovich (1935-2006) - head of the General Department of the CPSU Central Committee.
  • Medvedev Vladimir Timofeevich (born 1937) - KGB general, head of Gorbachev’s security.
  • Ageev Geniy ​​Evgenievich (1929-1994) - Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR.
  • Generalov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (b. 1946) - head of security at Gorbachev’s residence in Foros

Trial of the State Emergency Committee

Formally, it turns out that each of these people, except Varennikov, who accepted the amnesty, seemed to agree that he was guilty, and seemed to agree that he was guilty of what he was accused of, including 64 th article. Formally so. But they all accepted the amnesty with the caveat: “I’m innocent. And only because we are tired, we are tired, in the interests of society, in the interests of the state, responding to the decision State Duma about amnesty, that’s the only reason we accept amnesty.”

see also

Notes

Links

  • Chronicle: ,
  • Resolutions No. 1 and No. 2 of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR.
  • Why the State Emergency Committee lost (excerpt from the book by A. Baigushev)
  • We saved a Great Country / Valentin VARENIKOV
  • R. G. Apresyan. Popular resistance to the August coup

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See what “USSR State Emergency Committee” is in other dictionaries:

    State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR)- On the night of August 18-19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who disagreed with the reform policies of the country’s President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of the new Union Treaty, created the State Committee for the State of Emergency in ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

    State Emergency Committee: August 19 - 21, 1991- On August 19, 1991, at six o’clock in the morning Moscow time, a “Statement of the Soviet leadership” was broadcast on radio and television, which read: “Due to the impossibility for health reasons of Gorbachev’s execution of Mikhail ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

    During the August putsch, the GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR), a self-proclaimed body consisting of a number of senior government officials of the USSR, on the night of August 18-19, 1991, the Committee made an unsuccessful attempt... ... Wikipedia

Chronology

  • 1991, August 19 - 21 Anti-state putsch in Moscow
  • 1991, December 8 Bialowieza Agreement leadership of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus on the dissolution of the USSR
  • 1991, December 25 Resignation of M.S. Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR
  • 1992, January Beginning of radical economic reform in Russia

August 1991 State Emergency Committee. August putsch

An acute crisis of confidence in Gorbachev, his inability to effectively lead the country and control the socio-political situation was also manifested in his defeats in the fight against political opponents both “on the right” and “on the left”.

On August 5, 1991, after Gorbachev left for Crimea, conservative leaders began preparing a conspiracy aimed at suppressing reforms and restoring the full power of the center and the CPSU.

Putsch began on August 19 and continued three days. On the first day, documents from the leaders of the coup were read out. Vice President of the USSR G. Yanaev in a decree issued on his behalf, he announced his assumption of “the duties of the President of the USSR” “due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to fulfill his duties.” The “Statement of the Soviet Leadership” announced the formation State Committee for the State of Emergency composed of: O.D. Baklanov - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council; V.A. Kryuchkov - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR; V.S. Pavlov - Prime Minister of the USSR; B.K. Pugo - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR; A.I. Tizyakov - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR; G.I. Yanaev - acting President of the USSR. The names of the members of the State Emergency Committee were listed in alphabetical order; its formal leader, G. Yanaev, was listed at the end of the list.

The State Emergency Committee issued an appeal to the Soviet people, in which it was reported that Gorbachev's perestroika failed that, taking advantage of the granted freedoms, extremist forces arose and set a course for liquidation Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost. Resolution No. 1, adopted by the State Emergency Committee, as a way out of the crisis, banned the activities of government and management structures that were not legalized by the Constitution of the USSR, suspended the activities of political parties, movements, associations, opposition CPSU, as well as the publication of disloyal newspapers, and restored censorship. The security forces were supposed to maintain the state of emergency.

August 19 by decision State Emergency Committee to Moscow troops were brought in. The center of resistance to the putschists became the Russian leadership, headed by the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin. He made an appeal “To the Citizens of Russia” and issued a decree that spoke of the transfer of all bodies executive power USSR directly subordinate to the President of Russia. The White House, in which the Russian government is located, was given the opportunity to immediately begin organizing resistance to the putsch.

August 19, 1991 at the White House

The outcome of the confrontation between the State Emergency Committee and the Russian authorities was decided August 20, when B.N. Yeltsin and his entourage were able to turn the tide of events in their favor and took control of the situation in Moscow. On August 21, members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested. M.S. also returned to Moscow. Gorbachev. On August 23, during a meeting with deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, he was demanded to immediately sign a decree on dissolution of the CPSU. The President of the USSR accepted this and other ultimatums. The next day he dissolved the Union Cabinet of Ministers, resigned from his post Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU. The CPSU Central Committee announced its dissolution. As a result, not only the communist regime fell, but also the state-party structures cementing the USSR collapsed.

The collapse of all others began government agencies: The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was dissolved, and for the transition period until the conclusion of a new union treaty between the republics, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR became the highest representative body of power; Instead of a cabinet of ministers, a powerless inter-republican economic committee was created, and most of the union ministries were liquidated. The Baltic republics, which sought independence for two years, received it. Other republics adopted laws that strengthened their sovereignty and made them virtually independent of Moscow.

All members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested, with the exception of the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo, who committed suicide.

From the point of view of the creators of the State Emergency Committee themselves, their actions were aimed at restoring the rule of law in the USSR and stopping the collapse of the state. Their actions did not receive a legal assessment, since all arrested members of the State Emergency Committee were amnestied even before the trial. Only V.I. Varennikov, who was not a member of the committee, voluntarily appeared before the court and was acquitted.

Formation of the State Emergency Committee

Preparing to create a committee

From the “Conclusion on the materials of the investigation into the role and participation of USSR KGB officials in the events of August 19-21, 1991”:

...in December 1990, the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Kryuchkov V.A. instructed the former deputy head of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR V.I. Zhizhin and the assistant of the former first deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.F. Grushko. Egorov A.G. to carry out the study of possible primary measures for stabilization situation in the country in case of a state of emergency. From the end of 1990 to the beginning of August 1991, V. A. Kryuchkov, together with other future members of the State Emergency Committee, took possible political and other measures to introduce a state of emergency in the USSR by constitutional means. Having not received the support of the President of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, from the beginning of August 1991 they began to implement specific measures to prepare for the introduction of a state of emergency by illegal means.

From August 7 to 15, V. A. Kryuchkov repeatedly held meetings with some members of the future State Emergency Committee at the secret facility of the PGU KGB of the USSR, code-named UABCF. During the same period of time, V.I. Zhizhin and A.G. Egorov, at the direction of Kryuchkov, carried out adjustments to the December documents on the problems of introducing a state of emergency in the country. They, with the participation of the then commander of the airborne troops, Lieutenant General P.S. Grachev, prepared data for V.A. Kryuchkov on the possible reaction of the country's population to the introduction of a state of emergency in a constitutional form. The content of these documents was later reflected in official decrees, appeals and orders of the State Emergency Committee. On August 17, Zhizhin V.I. participated in the preparation of theses for V.A. Kryuchkov’s speech on television in the event of a state of emergency.

Participants in the conspiracy at various stages of its implementation assigned the USSR KGB a decisive role in:

  • removing the President of the USSR from power by isolating him;
  • blocking possible attempts by the President of the RSFSR to resist the activities of the State Emergency Committee;
  • establishing constant control over the whereabouts of the heads of government bodies of the RSFSR, Moscow, people's deputies of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Moscow City Council, known for their democratic views, and major public figures with a view to their subsequent detention;
  • carrying out, together with units of the Soviet Army and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an assault on the building of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR with the subsequent internment of persons captured there, including the Russian leadership.

from August 17 to 19, some special forces of the KGB of the USSR and special forces of the PGU of the KGB of the USSR were put on heightened combat readiness and redeployed to pre-designated places to participate, together with units of the SA and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in measures to ensure the state of emergency. Using specially created groups, on August 18, USSR President Gorbachev was isolated in a vacation spot in Foros, and RSFSR President Yeltsin and other opposition-minded individuals were placed under surveillance.

Members of the Emergency Committee

  1. Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich (born 1932) - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  2. Kryuchkov Vladimir Aleksandrovich (1924-2007) - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  3. Pavlov Valentin Sergeevich (1937-2003) - Prime Minister of the USSR.
  4. Pugo Boris Karlovich (1937-1991) - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, member of the Central Control Commission of the CPSU.
  5. Starodubtsev Vasily Aleksandrovich (born 1931) - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  6. Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich (born 1926) - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR.
  7. Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich (born 1923) - Minister of Defense of the USSR, member of the CPSU Central Committee.
  8. Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich (born 1937) - Vice-President of the USSR, Chairman of the State Emergency Committee, member of the CPSU Central Committee.

Political positions of the State Emergency Committee

In its first appeal, the State Emergency Committee assessed the general mood in the country as very skeptical towards the new political course of dismantling the highly centralized federal structure of governing the country, the one-party political system and state regulation of the economy, and condemned the negative phenomena that the new course, according to the drafters, caused life, such as speculation and the shadow economy, proclaimed that “the development of the country cannot be built on the decline in the living standards of the population” and promised to strictly restore order in the country and solve the main economic problems, without, however, mentioning specific measures.

Events of August 19-21, 1991

After the August events

  1. The Russian leadership, which led the fight against the State Emergency Committee, ensured the political victory of the supreme bodies of Russia over the Union Center. Since the fall of 1991, the Constitution and laws of the RSFSR, the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, as well as the President of the RSFSR received full supremacy over the laws of the USSR on the territory of Russia. With rare exceptions, the heads of regional authorities of the RSFSR who supported the State Emergency Committee were removed from office.
  2. The republics of the USSR declared their independence (in chronological order):
  3. The power structures of the USSR were paralyzed and collapsed.
  4. The process of concluding a new union treaty (Union of Sovereign States) was disrupted.
  5. The CPSU was banned and dissolved.
  6. USSR President Gorbachev returned to power, but actually lost his powers and was forced to resign at the end of 1991.

"Accomplices" and "sympathizers"

After the failure of the August putsch, in addition to members of the State Emergency Committee, some persons were brought to criminal liability, who, according to the investigation, actively assisted the State Emergency Committee. All of them were released under an amnesty in 1994. Among the “accomplices” were:

  • Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov (born 1930) - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; his address was broadcast on TV and radio along with the main documents of the State Emergency Committee.
  • Shenin Oleg Semyonovich (1937-2009) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
  • Prokofiev Yuri Anatolyevich (born 1939) - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
  • Varennikov Valentin Ivanovich (1923-2009) - army general.
  • Boldin Valery Ivanovich (1935-2006) - head of the General Department of the CPSU Central Committee.
  • Medvedev Vladimir Timofeevich (born 1937) - KGB general, head of Gorbachev’s security.
  • Ageev Geniy ​​Evgenievich (1929-1994) - Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR.
  • Generalov Vyacheslav Vladimirovich (b. 1946) - head of security at Gorbachev’s residence in Foros

Trial of the State Emergency Committee

Formally, it turns out that each of these people, except Varennikov, who accepted the amnesty, seemed to agree that he was guilty, and seemed to agree that he was guilty of what he was accused of, including 64 th article. Formally so. But they all accepted the amnesty with the caveat: “I’m innocent. And only because we are tired, we are tired, in the interests of society, in the interests of the state, responding to the decision of the State Duma on the amnesty, only for this reason we accept the amnesty.”

DUSHANBE, August 19 – Sputnik. Twenty-five years ago, there was an attempted coup in the USSR: a self-proclaimed authority was created in Moscow - the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP), which existed until August 21, 1991.

On the night of August 18-19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who disagreed with the reform policies of the country's President Mikhail Gorbachev and the draft of the new Union Treaty, created the State Emergency Committee of the USSR.

The main goal of the putschists was to prevent the liquidation of the USSR, which, in their opinion, should have begun on August 20 during the signing of the Union Treaty. According to the agreement, the USSR was to transform into a federation. The new federal state was supposed to be called the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics, with the previous abbreviation - USSR.

The State Emergency Committee included Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Boris Pugo, Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov, Chairman of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR Oleg Baklanov, Chairman Peasant Union of the USSR Vasily Starodubtsev, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR Alexander Tizyakov.

They were actively supported by the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces Valentin Varennikov, Chief of Staff of the USSR President Valery Boldin, Politburo member and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Oleg Shenin, Chief of the USSR Presidential Security Vyacheslav Generalov, Head of the Security Directorate of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Plekhanov, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Anatoly Lukyanov and some others.

The State Emergency Committee relied on the forces of the KGB (Alpha group), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Dzerzhinsky division) and the Ministry of Defense (Tula Airborne Division, Taman Motorized Rifle Division, Kantemirovskaya Tank Division).

State Television and Radio provided information support to the putschists. The nominal head of the conspirators was USSR Vice President Gennady Yanaev.

On August 19, 1991, the day before the signing of the new Union Treaty, the media broadcast a “Statement of the Soviet leadership”, which stated that due to the impossibility for health reasons of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev to fulfill the duties of the President of the USSR, in accordance with Article 127.7 of the Constitution of the USSR, the powers of the President of the USSR passed to Vice President Gennady Yanaev, a state of emergency was introduced in certain areas of the USSR for a period of six months from four o'clock Moscow time on August 19, 1991, and the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP USSR) was formed to govern the country.

Resolution of the State Emergency Committee No. 1 ordered the suspension of the activities of political parties, public organizations, prohibited holding rallies and street marches. Resolution No. 2 prohibited the publication of all newspapers except the newspapers "Trud", "Workers' Tribune", "Izvestia", "Pravda", "Red Star", "Soviet Russia", "Moskovskaya Pravda", "Lenin's Banner", "Rural Life" ".

Almost all television programs stopped broadcasting.

USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who was on vacation in Crimea at that time, was isolated at a government dacha in the Crimean village of Foros.

On the morning of August 19, troops and military equipment occupied key points on the highways leading to the center of Moscow and surrounded the area adjacent to the Kremlin. Several dozen tanks came very close to the House of the Supreme Soviet and Government of the RSFSR on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment (White House).

In total, about four thousand military personnel, 362 tanks, 427 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) were brought into Moscow. Additional units of the Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) were transferred to the vicinity of Leningrad, Tallinn, Tbilisi, and Riga.

The response was mass demonstrations and protest rallies in Moscow, Leningrad and a number of other cities in the country.

The resistance to the putschists was led by the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin and the Russian leadership. Yeltsin signed Decrees No. 59 and No. 61, where the creation of the State Emergency Committee was qualified as an attempt at a coup; Allied executive authorities, including security forces, were reassigned to the President of the RSFSR.

The House of Soviets of the RSFSR (White House) became the center of resistance to the State Emergency Committee. At the call of the Russian authorities, masses of Muscovites gathered at the White House, among whom were representatives of various social groups from the democratically minded public, students, intellectuals to veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

On the very first day, a tank company of the Taman Division went over to the side of the White House defenders.

Boris Yeltsin, standing on a tank, read out an “Address to the Citizens of Russia,” in which he called the actions of the State Emergency Committee a “reactionary, anti-constitutional coup” and called on the citizens of the country to “give a worthy response to the putschists and demand to return the country to normal constitutional development.” The appeal was signed by the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Ivan Silaev, acting. Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR Ruslan Khasbulatov.

On the evening of August 19, a press conference of members of the State Emergency Committee was shown on television. Valentin Pavlov, who developed hypertensive crisis. The members of the State Emergency Committee were noticeably nervous; The whole world went around the footage of Gennady Yanaev’s shaking hands.

Volunteer groups of defenders gathered around the White House to defend the building from an assault by government troops.

On the night of August 21, three civilians, Dmitry Komar, Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky, were killed in an underground transport tunnel at the intersection of Kalininsky Prospekt (now Novy Arbat Street) and the Garden Ring while maneuvering an infantry fighting vehicle.

Within three days, it became clear that society did not support the State Emergency Committee’s speech.

© Sputnik / Sergey Titov

On the morning of August 21, the withdrawal of troops from Moscow began, and at 11:30 a.m. an emergency session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR was held. On August 22, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and his family returned to Moscow on a TU-134 plane of the Russian leadership.

All members of the State Emergency Committee (with the exception of Boris Pugo, who committed suicide) and the Deputy Minister of Defense, Army General Valentin Varennikov, who helped them, as well as a number of other figures (including the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Anatoly Lukyanov) were arrested. They were charged under Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (treason).

On February 23, 1994, members of the State Emergency Committee were released from prison under an amnesty declared by the State Duma.

© Sputnik / Yuri Abramochkin

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