Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire (Final Edit)

PRELUDE


PART ONE: THE ROGUE STALINIST


PART TWO: THE LAST SOVIET


PART THREE: HIS FINEST HOUR


PART FOUR: ANARCHY REIGNS


PART FIVE: KINGMAKER OF THE COUP


PART SIX: WINNING THE BATTLE AND LOSING THE WAR


PART SEVEN: A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR AHEAD


PART EIGHT: THE OLIVE BRANCH


PART NINE: HE BETRAYED US ALL


PART TEN: THE END OF AN ERA


PART ELEVEN: THE FINGER IN THE DAM


PART TWELVE: WE ARE ALL OUT OF TIME


PART THIRTEEN: WE DESTROY THEM ALL


PART FOURTEEN: THE ROAD TO ALAT


PART FIFTEEN: AN INTERNAL MATTER


PART SIXTEEN: THE CATASTROPHE OF DUSHANBE


PART SEVENTEEN: FREE MARKET FASCISM


PART EIGHTEEN: A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION


PART NINETEEN: MARTIAL LAW


PART TWENTY: THE MATYRDOM OF MIKHAIL POPOV


PART TWENTY ONE: THE HONEYMOON IS OVER


PART TWENTY TWO: PRUSSIAGATE


PART TWENTY THREE: THE LOST 300


PART TWENTY FOUR: THE ZHIRINOVSKY ULTIMATUM


PART TWENTY FIVE: THE TRIAL OF VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY


PART TWENTY SIX: A TRUE RUSSIAN


PART TWENTY SEVEN: THE TULA ACCORDS


PART TWENTY EIGHT: THE POLISH EMBASSY CRISIS


PART TWENTY NINE: THE RIGHTEOUS GENERAL


PART THIRTY: THE NEW WARSAW PACT


PART THIRTY ONE: A SIMPLE MATTER OF TRANSIT


PART THIRTY TWO: THE QUASI-JUNTA


PART THIRTY THREE: A LIE AND TWO LOAVES OF BREAD


PART THIRTY FOUR: THE NIGHT OF THE TIGERS


PART THIRTY FIVE: THE TRANSYLVANIAN CORRIDOR


PART THIRTY SIX: A BILLION KALASHNIKOVS AND ONE NUKE


PART THIRTY SEVEN: SOME DAMNED SILLY THING IN THE BALKANS


PART THIRTY EIGHT: SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE


PART THIRTY NINE: A RADICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH


PART FORTY: THE PERFECT BOOGIEMAN


PART FORTY ONE: A WOUNDED BEAR


PART FORTY TWO: DEMOCRACY AT ITS WORST


PART FORT THREE: THE REAL TERRORISTS


PART FORTY FOUR: A VOICE OF REASON


PART FORTY FIVE: THE POWELL DOCTRINE


PART FORTY SIX: FROM THE ASHES OF AFGHANISTAN


PART FORTY SEVEN: THE SOMALI LINE


PART FORTY EIGHT: BLACK NOVEMBER


PART FORTY NINE: THE ZHIRINOVSKY ACT


PART FIFTY: A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL


PART FIFTY ONE: BIZARRO WORLD’S TIANANMEN SQUARE


PART FIFTY TWO: THE ACCIDENTAL CAPITALIST


PART FIFTY THREE: RATS LEAVING A FLOATING SHIP


PART FIFTY FOUR: THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA


PART FIFTY FIVE: DIVIDE AND CONQUER


PART FIFTY SIX: THE PINOCHET EFFECT


PART FIFTY SEVEN: A TERRIBLE MISTAKE


PART FIFTY EIGHT: NO SMALL THING


PART FIFTY NINE: THE BLOODY RECESS


PART SIXTY: AN EYE FOR AN EYE


PART SIXTY ONE: OUR CUBA


PART SIXTY TWO: THE SOVIET UNION OF BELARUS


PART SIXTY THREE: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS


PART SIXTY FOUR: ALL POLITICS ARE ETHNIC


PART SIXTY FIVE: A SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING


PART SIXTY SIX: WINNING BY LOSING


PART SIXTY SEVEN: THE SHIITE PROMISE


PART SIXTY EIGHT: OUR LAST BEST CHANCE


PART SIXTY NINE: THEY JUST WANT US TO DIE


PART SEVENTY: ANOTHER RUSSIAN THUG


PART SEVENTY ONE: FIELD OF SCREAMS


PART SEVENTY TWO: THE KALASHNIKOV SPRING


PART SEVENTY THREE: THE DONKEY DOOR OF POLITICS


PART SEVENTY FOUR: DEMOCRACY’S LAST STAND


PART SEVENTY FIVE: A TRUE COMMUNIST


PART SEVENTY SIX: A TOTAL SHAM


PART SEVENTY SEVEN: THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH DEMOCRACY


PART SEVENTY EIGHT: A DEN OF SNAKES


PART SEVENTY NINE: THE GREEN LIGHT INTO TUZLA


PART EIGHTY: THE RAPE OF SARAJEVO


PART EIGHTY ONE: Z FOR VENDETTA


PART EIGHTY TWO: CZECHOSLOVAKIA ALL OVER AGAIN


PART EIGHTY THREE: THANH PHONG


PART EIGHTY FOUR: THE SLAVIC SWITZERLAND


PART EIGHTY FIVE: CALL BACK YOUR DOGS OF WAR


PART EIGHTY SIX: DEFCON 1


PART EIGHTY SEVEN: THE LAST PARADE BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE


PART EIGHTY EIGHT: THE RETURN OF THE KING


PART EIGHTY NINE: THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM


PART NINETY: THE ARMENIAN COMPROMISE


PART NINETY ONE: THE BEST OF A THOUSAND BAD OPTIONS


PART NINETY TWO: THE PERFECT SCAPEGOAT


PART NINETY THREE: PLAN NABOKOV


PART NINETY FOUR: THE BEAR WHO CRIES WOLF


PART NINETY FIVE: THE DISAPPEARED


PART NINETY SIX: THE SCHOOL OF THE AFRICAS


PART NINETY SEVEN: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN


PART NINETY EIGHT: SUCKER PUNCHED


PART NINETY NINE: A SMOKING GUN THAT POINTS TO AFGHANISTAN


PART ONE HUNDRED: IMAGINED NATIONALISM


PART ONE HUNDRED AND ONE: WHERE EAGLES SOAR


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWO: WHEN LABOR WAS KING


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THREE: A BROKEN CLOCK


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR: THE SECOND ISLAMIC REPUBLIC


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED


PART ONE HUNDRED AND SIX: LAST BELL


PART ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN: A PUZZLE WITH A BILLION PIECES


PART ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT: A NECESSARY EVIL


PART ONE HUNDRED AND NINE: LAND OF MILK AND MONEY


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TEN: THE DIGITAL SUMMER OF LOVE


PART ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN: THE FINAL INSULT


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE: JUST ANOTHER WARLORD


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN: BLACK CHRISTMAS


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN: GIVE THE BEAR HIS CUBS BACK


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN: THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE DRAGON’S BACK


PART ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN: BREWER RATS


PART ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN: PLATA O PLUTONIO


PART ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN: A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH


PART ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEEN: A LABOR OF LOVE


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY: ABOVE ALL A SERB


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE: AN ANGRY RHINO


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO: A FAST TRACK TOWARDS ANARCHY


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THREE: THE RESTAVEC MILITIA


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR: A THORN IN THE BUSH


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE: A PIRANHA STATE


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX: NUCLEAR CAPITALISM


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN: ISRAEL OF THE BALKANS


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT: THE CROATIAN CORRIDOR


PART ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE: SLAVIC SHARIA


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY: AN AMERICAN CHURCHILL


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE: THE JAM


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO: THE FORD ULTIMATUM


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE: A DATE WITH AMERICA


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR: LAST OF A DYING BREED


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE: THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN LEGION


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX: THE E-30 INCIDENT


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN: GHOSTS OF AFGHANISTAN


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY EIGHT: THE FEDERATION OF AFGHAN REPUBLICS


PART ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY NINE: THE BATTLE OF KANDAHAR


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY: THE MASSOUD FACTOR


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE: MOSCOW’S TROJAN HORSE


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY TWO: FIXKRIEG


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY THREE: THE COMEBACK KID


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FOUR: THE ARAB SPRING


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE: THE OPRICHNIKI


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX: THE CLOWN PRINCE OF MOSCOW


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN: THE ZHIRINOVSKY YOUTH


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY EIGHT: HOUSE ARREST


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE: THE RESIGNATION OF VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY


PART ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY: EPILOGUE











Courtesy of BBC21 January 2012
Last updated at 14:52 ET[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]The former president of the Union of Independent States, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has cross-examined a survivor of the Grozny massacre, at his trial for war crimes at The Hague.

Mr Zhirinovsky, who is defending himself, spent much of his time berating the man who had just described seeing around 158 men killed at Grozny. As had become the case for much of his trial, he taunted both the victims and the United Nations tribunal.


“The only thing that is important to me is that you are not in Russia any more!” Mr Zhirinovsky screamed at the witness, “You may fool the Korean, but you will never fool the Russian people! You are a terrorist and your fellow terrorists got what they deserved!”


He denies 1,451 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his time as head of the UIS.

Prosecutors say he orchestrated a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against numerous ethnic groups throughout the former Soviet Union as well as his actions in Yugoslavia, Romania, and Afghanistan.


Mr Zhirinovsky, now 65, was arrested in 2009 after nearly three years under house arrest in The UIS Republic of Russia.

He was president of the Republic of Russia from 1991 to 1996 as well as the president of the UIS from 1996-2003. Mr Zhirinovsky was ousted in a popular Revolution that saw his Vice President (Alexander Lebed) seize power. As president of the UIS, he was named Supreme Commander of its army during the Chechen civil war and the Afghan intervention as part of the U.S.-sponsored invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. International observers note that between those two major conflicts, over 1,000,000 people were killed and more than ten million driven from their homes.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky was particularly wanted for masterminding the killings of over one hundred thousand people in Grozny upon the fall of the city in 1997, as well as his role in the “Rape of Sarajevo”, when the former Bosnian capital was overrun by Serbian and Russian forces during the Yugoslavian civil war in 1996. Both incidents have been ruled genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Soviet Union (ICTSI).


Single survivor
The witness, who took the stand on Thursday, is known as Protected Witness GZ1121. He described seeing men killed in Grozny on 19 June 1997, including twenty who were killed in a mass execution.

"When we heard the news that Grozny had fallen, we knew we had to leave. Many of us fled to Grozny from the other parts of the county, we saw what the Russians were doing. We knew they were going to kill us all." the man said.

Detained by Russian forces on 21 and 22 of June, 1997, the man was transferred to the auditorium at the Chechen State University, where he managed to survive despite a group of soldiers being detailed to execute him and those held with him.

Zhirinovsky’s trial opened in January of 2010, but has been hit by several delays since. Mr. Zhirinovsky has often yelled out pro-Russian slogans during the trial, as well as hurling insults at the prosecutor, witnesses, and judges. He was found in contempt of court when he called presiding judge O-Gon Kwon a “Korean whoremonger” during opening statements, and has subsequently been warned for referring to the judicial panel as “the Muslim harem” during the trial. He interrupted the Prosecution’s opening statement in 2010 to claim that the UN had been bought with “30 pieces of Saudi silver,” and has repeatedly yelled in court that “vengeance will belong to the Russian people”, a phrase that has become synonymous with the controversial leader and can be seen throughout the UIS on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and banners.

The Grozny phase is the fourth and final stage of the prosecution's case - about 360 witnesses are expected to take the stand.

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up this phase by mid-2014.




Opposition troops closing in on Mazar-e-Sharif


The Denver Post
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 11, 2013 | 8:52 PM MST


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT](Reuters) - Opposition forces in northern Afghanistan appeared to be closing in on the strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif Wednesday, with reports of smaller centers near the city being taken from Uzbek forces.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]An Afghan government spokesman says opposition troops have taken control of Shol Ghar, 50 kilometers from Mazar-e-Sharif, but the Uzbek Republic of Northern Afghanistan (URNA) has denied it has lost Shol Ghar. The URNA says it will move 500 new fighters to the area by the end of the week.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]The battle for Mazar-e-Sharif is seen as one of the most important elements of the campaign to restore stability in Afghanistan.[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]The URNA captured Mazar-e-Sharif in 2001, shortly after the United States began military operations in the country to overthrow the Islamic fundamentalist government of the Taliban and bring Al-Qaeda terrorist Osama Bin Laden to justice after the Al-Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001. [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]

[/FONT]However, the entry of former Soviet troops ultimately proved problematic for the American war effort and dealt a serious blow to stability in the region. As part of what would come to be known as the Crawford Accord, former U.S. President George Bush and former UIS President Vladimir Zhirinovsky reached an agreement for operations in Afghanistan in October of 2001 at the former’s ranch in Crawford, Texas. The agreement, which put UIS troops in charge of all military operations north of the 35th parallel, and NATO troops in charge of all military activity south of the 35th parallel, proved to be a major embarrassment for the American president and is widely cited as a major reason for his shocking 2004 defeat in the Republican primary race to former Michigan Governor John Engler.[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]

[/FONT]The Crawford Accord is widely cited as one of the major reasons for the disintegration of Afghanistan and is often cited as a major reason for the continuing civil war in Pakistan. Although former Northern Alliance commander and current Union of Tajikistan President Ahmad Shah Massoud has been successful in obtaining international recognition for the union of The Tajik Republic of Northern Afghanistan into the Republic of Tajikistan, URNA Supreme Commander Abdul Rashid Dostum has struggled due to frequent clashes with American, Russian, and Tajik forces inside of Afghanistan and numerous diplomatic blunders since declaring the independence of the Uzbek Republic of Northern Afghanistan in 2003. Although Afghan president Abdul Haq has indicated that the Republic of Afghanistan has the authority to conduct military operations in the breakaway republic, he claims that the revolt in the URNA is between Dostum and pro-Afghan factions of the Uzbek population. However, independent observers including the Red Crescent have reported that opposition forces widely appeared to be speaking Pashtu. U.S. Secretary of State Sam Nunn has indicated that there is evidence that the Taliban may also be a major factor in the resistance.




Transcript from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, October 12, 2007Guest: Sasha Baron Cohen[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]


[/FONT]Stewart: (Laughing) So can we expect more from Borat?


Cohen: I hope so. Maybe a sequel when Borat goes back home to Ghazbakia. Like, an entire movie filmed in Ghazbakia.


Stewart: How in the world did you ever come up with the idea of the Republic of Ghazbakia?


Cohen: Well, initially Borat was called Christo and he was from the Republic of Moldova. The early clips that I did on F2F had Christo the Moldavian. But then the Russians invaded Romania and suddenly nothing about Moldova was funny anymore. So I changed his birthplace to Kazakhstan in 1997 and changed his name to Borat. But then the Russians crushed the Kazak independence movement and committed some horrible war crimes there and suddenly Kazakhstan wasn’t funny anymore either. It was all over the news, and these news stations that I had been pulling these pranks on, well, all they wanted to talk about was the Taraz massacre and if I was ethnic Russian or Kazak.


Stewart: So it seems like wherever Borat called home, the Russians would invade and destroy.


Cohen: Yeah.


Stewart: Let me ask you a favor.


Cohen: Sure.


Stewart: Don’t change Borat’s birthplace to New York City.


(Audience laughter)




Op-Ed Contributor


Is the UN killing democracy in Russia?


By William Gregg
Published: June 15, 2013


The Hague — When U.S. Ambassador to the UIS Jon Huntsman was attacked by an angry mob in Moscow last week the international community was in a justifiable outrage and applauded the actions of UIS President Alexander Lebed in storming the U.S. embassy and retaking control of the facility before we were forced to witness a repeat of the Iranian hostage crisis or the Polish embassy crisis. Many noted the professionalism of the Moscow Police, and the so called “Anti Terrorism Unit” of the UIS Federal Police Force. The quick and successful operation prompted Secretary of State Sam Nunn to thank the Russian government for “not going in with guns blazing as they had been apt to do under previous administrations,” a not so veiled insult at the former UIS President now standing trial for genocide in the Hague. It prompted President Lebed to coldly shoot back that the “professionalism” of the ATU-FPF was in large part due to the leadership of former President Zhirinovsky.

However, it seems interesting that once again the international community just can’t seem to look past the obvious dictatorial tendencies of the Russian leadership because he’s “a heck of a lot better than the guy who came before him,” as former U.S. president George W. Bush once meekly stated in defense of the widely reviled Crawford Accord. Lebed is a dictator. He has never denied it. Sure he is not prone to wild outburst like his predecessor, but his actions, though muted, speak volumes about the type of man he is. Lebed seems to win over Western leaders not because he is truly an improvement, he’s not. If you think he is, ask those civilians killed in the conflict with Croatia in 2005 when the Croats tried to finally rid the Russian from their blatant occupation of the Krajina region of their nation. Lebed has had numerous opportunities to ditch the UIS, and allow the former Yugoslav republics of Montenegro and Serbia and those occupied regions of Croatia and Bosnia to decide for themselves if membership in the reviled UIS is worth the bloodshed. While Croatia is mired in poverty, she looks at her northern neighbor Slovenia, admitted to the EU in 2008 and NATO in 2009, as proof that the Russian leader is not an “improvement”. The UIS has become nothing more than a more intrusive and more genocidal version of the Warsaw Pact and Lebed has time and time again fought to keep the coalition in place. His recent attempts to “loosen the confederation” into a “Commonwealth of Independent States” rings hollow when one sees the Russian military intervention in the breakaway republic of Georgia two years ago. The international community, shell shocked from the disastrous reign of former president Zhirinovsky, has remained silent simply because Lebed is better able to keep the instability inside of the borders of the UIS, and he has yet to punch Tony Blair in the mouth, two things his predecessor was unable to do.

Besides, there are still the conspiracy theorists in Russia who feel that Lebed was the one pulling the strings from the start.

“Zhirinovsky was selected as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party by the KGB for one reason and one reason only,” former head of the KGB and perennial presidential candidate Vladimir Putin stated in an Interview with the BBC last year, “because he was easy to manipulate.”

Many Russia experts wonder if Lebed was in fact the real power during the Zhirinovsky presidency, but most feel that Zhirinovsky was the one responsible for the war crimes.


“There are two things Zhirinovsky knows well,” Former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev famously said in 2002, “how to act like a fool, and how to commit ethic cleansing. He was a master of creating ethnic strife.”

So what can we expect from Russia and the UIS now? President Lebed earned international praise when he turned over Zhirinovsky to the International Court in 2008, but many observers feel that he is simply using the entire trial to shore up popular support. Since the arrest, radical right wing groups in the UIS have become increasingly violent, and Lebed is able to play off the fears of the international community in supporting his position. Any foreigner who walks through the streets of Moscow is bombarded with graffiti, signs, and flags often in English, promising that “vengeance will belong to the Russian people!” That one former presidential candidate for the Radical People’s Party was able to garner nearly twenty percent of the vote in the 2008 UIS presidential election on a platform of declaring war on The Netherlands shows the volatility of the state of affairs in Russia today. Russia today is truly one of the great tragedies of the 20th century. Had Russian president Boris Yeltsin not been shot during the failed Communist coup of 1991 perhaps Russia would have had a chance at democracy. But now it may be too late. A recent poll indicated that, inside Russia, over 60% of people view Zhirinovsky favorably. Up from less than 15% in January of 2003 when he was ousted.


























































60 Minutes on CBS News - “The Madman of Moscow?” from March 13, 1994

Portions of a Mike Wallace interview with Valentin Pavlov, former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.

Courtesy of CBS[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]Mike Wallace: Mr. Pavlov, I want to make sure I understand you correctly. You are saying that President Zhirinovsky was part of the failed 1991 August coup plot?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Valentin Pavlov: He was aware of it.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Wallace: By aware you mean collaborating?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Pavlov: He was not part of the plot, but he knew it was coming. And he was supportive.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Wallace: He supported the coup?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Pavlov: Yes. He was going to openly support the coup. Up until the day of the coup, everything was going according to plan. It was arranged. [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Wallace: It seems rather incredible that one of the most virulent anti-communists in recent memory would be in support of a hard line communist coup.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Pavlov: It was arranged.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Wallace: But some critics are wondering about the timing of these accusations. With the recent Constitutional crisis in Russia and the elections last year, critics are wondering if this is just a political attack on the Russian President-[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Pavlov: The world needs to know. It was arranged.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Wallace: So what went wrong? How did Zhirinovsky end up going from collaborator to champion of Russian democracy in three days?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
Pavlov: General Varennikov. That goddamned fool had to ruin everything.




Excerpts from the book: Yeltsin, An Unfinished Life, by William Hinton.
Published by Random House, © 2005.


Chapter 4: The Rogue Stalinist

What ultimately became clear after the final meeting of the planned “State Committee for the State of Emergency” (GKChP) in early August 1991 was that most of the coup plotters regarded the most serious threat to come from Yeltsin, and few paid little attention to the numerous inconsequential political parties that had competed in the 1991 Russian presidential elections. However, this indifference was hardly the unanimous consensus.

“General Valentin Varennikov was one of the few veterans of the Great Patriotic War who was part of the coup,” commented Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR, “and he was an unapologetic admirer of Joseph Stalin. He regarded the existence of a quasi-fascist party in the Soviet Union to be offensive, and he believed that since Stalin would hardly tolerate the existence of Vladimir Zhirinovsky, neither should he.”

Although almost all of the members of the GKChP regarded Zhirinovsky as a mild irritant at best, the man who many in Russia would soon come to refer to as the “Rogue Stalinist” decided to take matters into his own hands when Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov and Vice President Gennady Yanayev seemed uninterested in taking any actions against Zhirinovsky.

“Keep in mind that while General Varennikov was part of the coup, he was not a member of the GKChP,” added Matlock, “he had absolutely no knowledge of any plans involving Zhirinovsky, had there been any. He acted alone, and in the end, his acts led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.”




UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011

Discussing his controversial statement that Russia would have been “better off” had the failed 1991 coup succeeded.



Putin: He (General Varennikov) truly believed Zhirinovsky was a threat. He was a student of German history and in particular Germany in the years leading up to World War II. He knew that Adolf Hitler entered the National Socialist party as a mole, planted by the Government. No different than how Zhirinovsky became a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He knew that from 1924 to 1930 Adolf Hitler had initially never garnered more than 7% of votes in an election. When Zhirinovsky won 8% of the votes in the 1991 election it terrified him. He truly believed that they needed to stop him.

BBC: So it proved particularly tragic that his attempts to stop this madman ultimately became the catalyst that put him in power.

Putin: Tragic, yes. But in the end history will judge General Varennikov as one of Russia’s great patriots. He was, after all, the one who first said that Russia was nursing a wolf cub. But sooner or later it will become a wild animal and woe to Russia if the wolf is still in its house when he reaches adulthood.



Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999

Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991. 1:15 A.M.



Ultimately, there was little question that despite the fact that General Varennikov was head of all Soviet ground troops in the USSR, he elected to recruit only men he trusted directly with the arrest of the leaders of the independent political parties. Few questioned that he was deeply concerned that his actions would be discovered not only by supporters of Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the military, but also by the members of the GKChP, who he feared might interpret his actions as a “coup inside a coup”.

“It was foolish to send only four men to arrest as volatile a man as Vladimir Zhirinovsky,” commented one former aid to Varennikov, “and to send four Azeri soldiers into a Zhirinovsky political rally that had turned into an all night drinking party was beyond idiotic.”

The order was to seize the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party at his home in the early morning, before he had a chance to process what was happening. But the mission started off poorly after the lone soldier who received the order, Corporal Vahid Hasinov received a phone call shortly past midnight to arrest Zhirinovsky at his home.

“Corporal Hasinov was an obvious choice for the General to call since the General was not in Moscow but in Foros when he finally decided to unilaterally arrest Zhirinovsky,” commented another former Varennikov aid, “Hasinov served under General Varennikov in Kabul two years prior when the General was the personal representative of the Soviet Defense Minister. He could have been able to convince the Corporal of his identity over the phone, that this wasn’t some sort of joke.”

Many argued that General Varennikov may have in fact planned to arrest Zhirinovsky days earlier but had been fearful of revealing his plan too early. Regardless, it proved catastrophic for his plans when the young Corporal had trouble convincing his fellow troops that the order was legitimate.

It was noted in General Varennikov’s trial three years later that members of the Corporal's unit testified seeing him arguing with three other soldiers in Azeri for nearly three hours before the four men left in the early morning.

Most believe that the order to arrest Zhirinovsky required Corporal Hasinov to maintain secrecy, even from fellow members of his unit. As a result, many historians believe that it was for this reason that Hasinov selected Private Orucov, Private Salahov, and Private Khanmammadov to help him carry out the order. As the only other men in his unit who were fluent in Azeri, they could have discussed the order without fear of other soldiers overhearing the discussion.

By the time they had reached the Zhirinovsky home, over three hours had passed since the order was issued and nobody had bothered to confirm if the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party was even home. As fate would have it, Zhirinovsky had attended a small political rally the night before near Gor’kiy Park and never left.

“Early on many Zhirinovsky rallies involved a lot of vodka,” commented Lieutenant Vitali Vaulin, who was present at the Gor’kiy Park rally on August 18, 1991, “and often we would spend the entire night drinking and cursing the f-----g Chechens, and Jews, and all the other goddamned trash that we were told for seventy years were our f-----g comrades.”

Reports would later indicate that when the Corporal Hasinov and the other three Azeri troops discovered that Zhirinovsky wasn’t at home, they started to panic. They began to pound on the doors of neighbors and grabbed pedestrians demanding to know the whereabouts of Zhirinovsky.

“Undoubtedly they were scared of telling General Varennikov,” commented one neighbor, “because they looked terrified when they discovered he was not home.”

When they finally discovered the whereabouts of Zhirinovsky, and that he was across Moscow at Gor’kiy Park, nearly five hours had passed since the order had come in, and the General himself had already seized Gorbachev in the President’s dacha in Crimea.

“The coup was already underway when those poor men stumbled into that rally at Gor’kiy Park just past six in the morning," commented a lieutenant who served with the four men, "they were tired and perhaps blind to the scene that had surrounded them."

“When we saw those four Azeri pigs walk into our rally…well all two hundred of us wanted to tear them apart right then and there,” commented Vaulin, who in turn would fire the first shot of what Zhirinovsky would call the second Russian Revolution, “and then they opened their f-----g mouths.”

“Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky,” Corporal Hasinov said to the man standing on the podium, “you are under arrest for treason.”


[FONT=Gungsuh, serif]Screenplay of the Russian film “[/FONT][FONT=Gungsuh, serif]Birth of a Nation[/FONT][FONT=Gungsuh, serif]” (“[/FONT][FONT=Gungsuh, serif]Рождение нация[/FONT][FONT=Gungsuh, serif]”) (1995)[/FONT][FONT=Gungsuh, serif][1][/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]


[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]16. EXT. THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC RALLY AT GORKY PARK, MORNING As the crowd of five hundred stand around the makeshift stage and podium, we see VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKY standing at the podium reading from a prepared speech. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]ZHIRINOVSKY (yelling) [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]For too long the Russian people were denied our rights, our freedoms! But the time for change is upon us. The Bolsheviks are running scared comrades! They are scared of you! Of the freedom loving Russian who knows that his voice can no longer be silenced.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]Pan to various face shots of adoring onlookers. Several are nodding their heads in approval.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]17. EXT. Ulitsa Krymskiy Val- MORNING We see a car driving recklessly down the street swerving wildly as it comes to a screeching halt near the front gate of Gorky Park. As it stops an OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN walking down the sidewalk looks disapprovingly as four men step out of the car. The men are dressed in Soviet military uniforms, but are badly disheveled and visibly drunk. One of the men, CORPRAL HASINOV, is holding a vodka bottle. In the background we can hear the voice of ZHIRINOVSKY on a speaker.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]For shame. What kind of soldiers are you?[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]HASINOV stumbles up to the old woman and slaps her across the face, knocking her down.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]HASINOV[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]Ha! Old pig![/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]ORUCOV, SALAHOV, and KHANMAMMADOV all laugh at the old woman. HASINOV spits on her as they stumble towards the rally.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]18. EXT. THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC RALLY AT GORKY PARK, MORNING ZHIRINOVSKY is still speaking to the crowd when machine gun fire stops him in mid sentence. We see HASINOV, ORUCOV, SALAHOV, and KHANMAMMADOV stumble through the crowd, which parts like the Red Sea to clear room for the drunken soldiers. ORUCOV is holding his Kalashnikov in the air. HASINOV throws his vodka bottle to the ground, shattering it. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]HASINOV[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]Are you the traitorous pig Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky?[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]ZHIRINOVSKY (standing firm) [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]I am he.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]HASINOV[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]You are under arrest for treason.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]The crowd begins to stir restlessly and we hear them begin to protest. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]ZHIRINOVSKY (addressing HASINOV) [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]I can assure you, that there are no traitors here except you…and the filth you brought with you![/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]HASINOV looks at ZHIRINOVSKY with visible anger and contempt. He lifts his rifle to shoot ZHIRINOVSKY, prompting LT. VAULIN, who is standing in the crowd, to tackle HASINOV before he can fire a shot. ORUCOV, SALAHOV, and KHANMAMMADOV immediately raise their rifles and begin firing into the crowd. We see women and children falling from the gunfire as the crowd scream in horror.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT][FONT=Courier, Courier New, monospace]ZHIRINOVSKY (addressing the crowd) Comrades! We have been betrayed![/FONT][FONT=Impact, sans-serif]

[/FONT][1] Showings and/or performances of this film is prohibited by the British Board of Film Censors. This film is currently banned in the following countries: United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Hungary.[FONT=Impact, sans-serif]
[/FONT]





Witness recounts the events at Gorky Park during coup


Der SpiegelAugust 19, 2001



Interviewer’s notes:Der Spiegel interview with Alex Artemiev
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]DS: So you were among the hundreds who attended the Zhirinovsky rally on August 18th and 19th? [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: It wasn’t hundreds. It was about thirty. And most of them were just there for the free vodka. [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Free vodka?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: Yes. Vodka. Zhirinovsky used to promise free vodka to all Russians or some silly thing like that. I was walking past the park with some friends and I heard him on the loud speaker. We didn’t pay him any attention, until we heard something about free vodka. Then we stopped.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Then what happened?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: We walked into the tent and started drinking. [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: So were you a supporter of Mr. Zhirinovsky?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: No. I actually thought he was something of a buffoon. But when I got there it seemed like a fun party. Even Zhirinovsky was drunk. [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: What about when Corporal Hasinov came to arrest Zhirinovsky that morning?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: Well, I remember seeing him walk into the tent with three other soldiers. They looked frightened at first, and I remember seeing one of them grab Hasinov’s arm, as if to stop him. But he mumbled something to that soldier and broke his arm free and walked up to Zhirinovsky.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Was Zhirinovsky speaking to the crowd?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: No. Most of the people were passed out. The only people who were not were me and one of my friends, Alexey Osokin, and of course Lieutenant Vaulin and some of his friends at the other side of the tent. Zhirinovsky was pretty drunk and sitting on a chair, nearly passed out.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: What happened then?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: Well, Hasinov walked up to Zhirinovsky and whispered in his ear. But Zhirinovsky didn’t move.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Then what happened?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: He started to softly shake Zhirinovsky to wake him up.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Did Zhirinovsky acknowledge him at that point?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: No. So he started shaking him harder. That woke him up.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: What happened next?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: He said something to Zhirinovsky right as Vaulin noticed that he was shaking [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]Zhirinovsky somewhat forcefully. That’s when the incident started.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: Did Zhirinovsky respond?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: Yes. He said, and I remember this clearly, he said ‘I’ve been betrayed!”[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]DS: I’ve?[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Artemiev: Yes. ‘I’ve been betrayed.’ Singular.




Excerpts from the book: “The Last Soviet: A Biography of Vahid Hasinov” by Mary Kerr.


Published by University of California Press, © 2010.



Chapter V: “The Troublemaker”

Much of the goodwill Corporal Hasinov earned from his time serving in Afghanistan ultimately was lost when he became a vocal supporter of Azerbaijani rights in Germany. In one of the few known and authenticated letters written by Hasinov during his time in Germany he described the deteriorating relationship between the conscripts and the mostly Slavic officers.

“We are becoming aware of what we were, not just as soldiers, but as Azeris,” Hasinov wrote, “we don’t see ourselves as Soviets anymore. I see the various ethnic groups sticking together and distancing themselves from the Russians.”

It was in this heightened climate that Hasinov garnered the attention of his superiors.

“It was clear that the Russian officers were angry that they were losing Germany and Eastern Europe,” Hasinov wrote, “but they seemed oblivious to the fact that they are still occupying Azerbaijan. I took part in a protest organized by a fellow Azeri. We decided to boycott a planned Soviet referendum, we didn’t want any part of it as long as our country was occupied.”

It was a protest that proved costly for the young Corporal and is widely seen as one of the reasons he was stationed in Moscow in August of 1991 as opposed to with the Soviet 4th Army, which by 1991 was the primary Soviet military force in Azerbaijan, and the one unit that was almost entirely Azerbaijani.

“They tried to make us march to the polling station to vote,” another Azeri soldier who took part in the protest in Germany (and who asked to remain unidentified) recounted years later, “but we stood firm. We Azeris had promised each other we wouldn't vote in any Soviet referendum, so we refused the order.”

The incident caused a backlash against Hasinov, who admitted to a friend in Germany that he knew that the commanders considered him “a problem”. But others noted that it went beyond his refusal to vote, but his determination to protect the rights of his fellow Azeris and demand equal treatment for them.

“There was a lot of racism from the officers,” added the soldier who served with Hasinov in Germany, “they'd call any soldier from the Caucasus a black ass. When Hasinov made those same officers beg him to cooperate, it all but sealed his fate. I think they never forgot that, and they never forgave him.”

Old Soviet military records on Corporal Hasinov have proved extremely unreliable, but most historians do agree that the protest was the deciding factor in sending Hasinov to Moscow after the Soviets pulled out of Germany.

After “Black January” in the early part of 1990 in Baku there was no way the Soviets would send a difficult Azeri soldier there,” stated a Soviet officer who was familiar with Hasinov, “so he was sent to Moscow as part of a construction unit in October of 1990. Unit 600.”




From CNN’s twenty-four episode television documentary Cold War.
© 1998
Courtesy of CNN



Episode 24: “Conclusions”

Former NBC Moscow reporter Bob Abernethy:

“It was ironic that Hasinov even stayed as long as he did in Moscow. Many of the Azeri soldiers were abandoning ship, going AWOL. Some were going home and taking part in the increasingly volatile war between the Azeris and the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Others were just leaving and going home. The myth of the Soviet Army had collapsed from the inside out. But for whatever reason, Hasinov decided to stay put...the last Soviet. Until he received the call from General Varennikov.




Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999




Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991. 6:22 A.M.

Although many historians dispute the size of the crowd at Gor’kiy Park on August 19, 1991, there is no dispute as to the issue of sobriety. After drinking all night, those who were present were volatile, drunk, and, for at least a handful, looking for a fight. The arrival of Hasinov, Orucov, Salahov, and Khanmammadov proved to be the spark that ignited the second Russian Revolution. Hasinov’s attempts to arrest Zhirinovsky prompted a violet response from a young Russian officer named Lieutenant Vitali Vaulin, an avowed extreme nationalist who himself would subsequently be tried for war crimes in The Hague in 2005.

“I couldn’t’ believe those four black asses thought they could just walk into our rally and expect us to do nothing,” Vaulin would say in an interview with a Finnish newspaper in 1996, “and to not even tell us who issued the order?!”

Most witnesses confirmed that Vaulin, who outranked the four Azeris, demanded they identify who issued the order. When Hasinov refused to disclose that information, Vaulin responded by issuing his own order for the four men to leave Zhirinovsky alone.

“During this entire incident, Zhirinovsky was cowering next to the podium like a deer in the road,” commented Alex Artemiev, a witness to the event, “he looked catatonic with fear.”

As the incident became louder and more volatile, it had the unintended consequence of awaking other Zhirinovsky supporters. One observer noted from the insignia on the uniform of the four men that they were from Construction Unit 600, a revelation that had the effect of electrifying the crowd even further.

“We knew that there was no way the government would send four enlisted Azeri construction workers to arrest Zhirinovsky,” commented Vladimir Bakatin, a Zhirinovsky supporter who was present at the rally. “And we also knew than many Azeris were abandoning the Soviet army and selling whatever they could on the black market. We had no reason to believe a word these men said. We thought they were mafia. Gangsters. Looking to try and kidnap our leader and take him to Baku for ransom.”

History would go on to argue over who fired the first shot in what many Russian nationalists call “The Battle of Gor’kiy Park.”

“The little one, Salahov, he got scared,” commented Bakatin, “and that’s when he took a shot at Vaulin.”

“Vaulin and Hasinov were arguing about who gave the order to arrest Zhirinovsky,” countered Artemiev, “and Vaulin kept screaming that Hasinov was disobeying a direct order by not leaving. That’s when Vaulin lifted his rifle and shot Salahov in the stomach.”

By most accounts the firefight lasted just twenty seconds before Hasinov, Salahov and Orucov fled. Salahov, who received a gunshot wound to his abdomen, would die the following day at the hospital. Although the number of casualties at Gor’kiy Park is a matter of fierce debate, with Russian nationalists claiming upwards of a hundred Zhirinovsky supporters killed (most independent observes have the number at two), what was undisputed was that as tanks rolled into Red Square and the radio began blaring the declaration by the "Emergency Committee" that it had taken power, Private Khanmammadov lay dead at the feet of Vladimir Zhirinovsky.





























































Gorbachev ousted in apparent coup


August 19, 1991
New York Times
by Alice Kaufman


MOSCOW, Monday, August 19- Mikhail S. Gorbachev was apparently ousted from power today by hard-line KGB and military factions of the Communist Party while he was vacationing in the distant Crimea.

The announcement by the self-proclaimed “Soviet leadership” came as Mr. Gorbachev was about to announce a new union treaty, which would have ushered in a new era of power-sharing between the various Soviet republics.

The announcement this morning shocked the nation and left it desperate for information as Kremlin officials declared a state of emergency. The apparent ousting of president Gorbachev, six years into his "perestroika" reform program, came a mere three days after his former ally and reform adviser, Aleksandr Yakovlev, resigned from the Communist Party, warning of a potential coup d’état.

Tass, the Soviet news agency, cited “health reasons” which rendered Mr. Gorbachev's unable to perform his duties as President as the reason for his removal.

Tass also reported that Vice President Gennady I. Yanayev was assuming presidential powers under a newly proclaimed entity called the State Committee for the State of Emergency. The committee is also made up of Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, chief of the K.G.B., and Dmitri T. Yazov, the Defense Minister.

The scene on the streets of Moscow was calm at 6 A.M. when the announcement was made. However, there have been unconfirmed reports of violence at a political rally for an opposition leader. Early reports indicate that military attempts to arrest Liberal Democratic Party head Vladimir Zhirinovsky were met with fierce opposition from anti-communist factions of the Soviet military, forcing troops to withdraw.




Excerpts from the book: Yeltsin, An Unfinished Life, by William Hinton.
Published by Random House, © 2005.
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Chapter 12: His Finest Hour[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]As soon as Yeltsin realized that the coup was in fact happening he gathered a handful of his closest advisers and rallied at the Soviet White House. Among the supporters with him that morning were top adviser Gennady Burbulis, Sergei Filatov, Mikhail Arutyunov (a deputy in the Russian Parliament), and General Viktor Ivanenko, head of the Russian KGB.

When Yeltsin and his inner circle arrived at the White House, they discovered crowds of supporters already starting to gather around. When the first tanks rumbled up about an hour later they were met by a large crowd of several hundred.

“At first we came out to defend our government," said Konstantin Truyevtsev, a student who was among those surrounding the White House, “but second to defend Yeltsin. We started hearing about the failed attempt to seize Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and we were determined to show the KGB and the military that we also would fight to protect our President.”

Gennady Burbulis would go on to say years later that the presence of General Ivanenko proved to be most important for the anti-coup movement.

“Earlier that year Yeltsin had succeeded in creating a separate Russian KGB,” Burbulis would say in an interview in 2011, “And it was headed by General Viktor Ivanenko, whose loyalty to Boris Yeltsin was very, very strong.”

Ivanenko immediately began undermining the coup plotters and rallying support from inside the KGB.

“From the moment we arrived at the White House, Ivanenko was in my office and on the phone,” Burbulis said, "for three days he remained on the phone. He made call after call to his fellow officers, to the very people who would make or break the coup."

Besides Ivanenko, other Yeltsin supporters worked to bring military commanders over to the president’s side.

Sergei Filatov organized groups that were sent to army bases and military academies around Moscow to persuade commanders not to obey orders to seize Yeltsin.

“I am not sure how vigorously and aggressively they would have pushed this had it not been for the failed seizure of Zhirinovsky.” US Ambassador Jack Matlock said about the supporters of Boris Yeltsin, “They heard the rumors about the Gorky Park incident and they realized that some soldiers were actively in revolt against the coup, and they decided to capitalize on it, with great success.”

“In 1991 I didn’t know a single person who liked Vladimir Zhirinovsky,” Gennady Burbulis said, “and so it was very reassuring to us that the Soviet military was unwilling or unable to arrest that man. If they met resistance there, imagine what would happen if they tried to arrest Yeltsin?”


In the end, both General Ivanenko and Sergei Filatov did succeed in rallying large groups of the military and KGB to support Yeltsin and the opposition.

“What Ivanenko and Filatov did was succeed in creating an anti-coup faction that had stuck their neck out for Boris Yeltsin,” Jack Matlock would say years later, “they couldn’t turn back after supporting the Russian President. So when something happened to Yeltsin, well, they needed to find someone else to rally around because the fear was that the only thing waiting for them on the other side was a firing squad.”




New light shed on 1991 anti-Gorbachev coup


BBC
August 15, 2012



It has been 20 years since the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Though the coup failed, new BBC interviews underline how fragile Gorbachev’s hold on power had become - and how strong opposition to the Communist Party had become not only with average Russians, but with many inside the party itself.

Although Mr. Gorbachev faced the emergence of a powerful pro-reform opponent in Boris Yeltsin, a former political protégé who had become Russian president, opposition to the coup also came from inside the KGB and military.

“I was shocked when I learned that Yeltsin had been able to organize so much of the military to support him,” Mr Gorbachev said, “but it shouldn’t have surprised me. He wanted a dictatorship. He just expected that he would be the head of it. Not Vladimir Zhirinovsky.”

Looking back, Mr Gorbachev cannot conceal his bitterness towards Yeltsin.

"I made a mistake," Mr Gorbachev told the BBC, "I should have got rid of him. It was because of Yeltsin that events unfolded as they did."

To this day, Mr Gorbachev blames Yeltsin’s “cronies” for handing the reigns of the country to Mr Zhirinovsky.

“Gorbachev: The calm before the storm” can be seen globally, on BBC World News at 09:30 and 21:30 GMT on Saturday 20 August (check BBC World News TV schedules for local screening times).




Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999.




Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991.11:22 A.M.

As Yeltsin and his supporters strengthened their position in the White House, a sense of overconfidence would lead Yeltsin to tragically make the mistake that would lead to the emergence of Vladimir Zhirinovsky as undisputed leader of Russia. Right before lunch a young Yeltsin aid would come rushing in from the street with a curious report.


“This young boy ran into Yeltsin's office to inform him that some of the soldiers had gotten out of their tanks and were talking with the people in the crowd,” Gennady Burbulis would recount, “and Yeltsin, inspired by the support he was receiving from the people outside and the support General Ivanenko had been able to obtain inside the military and the KGB decided to go out there.”

It was a decision that was met with fierce opposition from Burbulis.

“I tried to talk him out of it, to tell him there could be snipers, but he refused to stand down,” Burbulis recalled, “and sadly, I think he let the reports of the Gorky Park incident influence him too much. He didn’t want to be seen as less courageous than Zhirinovsky.”


It would go on to become of the most tragic moments in recent Russian history. With television cameras rolling, Yeltsin shook hands with the tank crew and then climbed up on top of the tank. Once a symbol of Soviet oppression, for a few moments it became a symbol of hope and of freedom. Yeltsin stood facing the crowds as security personnel and close supporters rushed up along side him to protect him. Yeltsin waited just a moment before looking down at a short, prepared speech. It was a call for the “citizens of Russia” to oppose the coup and stand firm.

“I really think that if he had the opportunity to give that speech, if he could have just been able to speak to the Russian people, that we would be living in a different country today,” Burbulis said many years later, “a democratic country.”

A single shot from a sniper struck Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the chest, killing him instantly.










60 Minutes on CBS News - “The Madman of Moscow?” from March 13, 1994
Portions of a Mike Wallace interview with Valentin Pavlov, former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.Courtesy of CBS



Mike Wallace: Mr. Pavlov, let me ask you then, did you issue the order to kill Boris Yeltsin?

Valentin Pavlov: No. Absolutely not. We made no plans to harm President Yeltsin. None.

Wallace: Did you make plans to arrest him?

Pavlov: No.

Wallace: So we are to believe that you organized this coup, and yet made no arrangements to stop Boris Yeltsin?

Pavlov: We did not think we needed to arrest him, and certainly not to shoot him.

Wallace: Why not?

Pavlov: We didn’t think it was necessary.

Wallace: It seems rather incredible that you would launch this coup, make arrangements to deal with a minor political figure like Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and none for the most popular politician in Russia.

Pavlov (long pause): In hindsight we should have done things differently.




THE SOVIET CRISIS; Moscow Fears it awoke to a Nightmare


New York Times
Published: August 20, 1991



As a dozen tanks drove into Mayakovsky Square kicking up a cloud of smoke, an unnamed woman in the capital stood on the sidewalk and cried.

"I don’t know what I fear more,” the woman said, “the Stalinists, or civil war.”

The assassination of Russian president Boris Yeltsin sparked an angry and violent reaction from Yeltsin supporters in front of the White House, forcing some military units to withdraw while others turned their guns outwards in support of the pro-democracy movement.

It has led to riots in other parts of the city, although as of yet there are no reports of it spreading outside of Moscow. Opponents of the “State Committee for the State of Emergency” have seized control of Gor’kiy Park, calling it the “birthplace of the Revolution”.

Pro democracy protesters assaulted Soviet troops shortly after the assassination, looking for the shooter before converging on a young man whom they claimed had a “hot rifle”.

The young man was killed in the scuffle, prompting some Soviet units to flee, while others stayed and pledged their allegiance to the Russian Parliament.

“I will oppose anyone who comes forward and attempts to seize this building,” one young soldier yelled as he stood on his tank, “and if need be I will die for my country!”

The volatile situation at the White House has also raised questions as to who is now the new leader of the Russian SFSR. Vice President Alexander Rutskoy has yet to make any formal statement since the assassination, while deputy Mikhail Arutyunov has been seen speaking with supporters outside the White House in an attempt to rally support for the Parliament and not the Vice President. Opposition leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has also made no statement since the coup began earlier today.




THE SOVIET CRISIS; ANARCHY REIGNS AS K.G.B.-MILITARY RULERS TIGHTEN GRIP; GORBACHEV ABSENT; YELTSIN DEAD; WEST VOICES ANGER


Newsweek
Published: August 20, 1991



The engineers of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev's ouster from power moved quickly today to impose hard-line control across the nation, but the Communist Party’s grip on the nation is rapidly disappearing as more and more sections of Moscow are being taken over by rioters and opponents of the government. The coup leaders, dominated by the military and the K.G.B., banned protest meetings, closed independent newspapers and flooded the capital with troops and tanks. However, the orders were by and large ignored as Russian republic troops converged at the White House, while anti-communist protesters seized Gorky Park as well as the Moscow headquarters of the Soviet news agency TASS. A General strike was called by coal miners and auto workers in Siberia, leading to a potential violent showdown.

“I will fight to the death to stop the KGB,” one rioter at Gorky Park yelled, “and I will kill the first man wearing a red star that I see!”

“Civil war looks inevitable,” commented one American diplomat who wished to remain unnamed, “The Communist Party is split between supporters of Gorbachev and the coup. The Yeltsin supporters are split between those who support the Vice President and those that support Parliament. The military is split between those that support the coup and those that oppose it. And the Russian people are becoming more and more vocal in their opposition to the status quo.”


At least two deaths were reported, that of an unidentified soldier at the White House who was believed to be the man who fired at Yeltsin, and a Soviet soldier who was killed at a Liberal Democratic Party political rally when his unit tried to arrest LPD leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.




Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999[FONT=Impact, sans-serif]
[/FONT]



Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991. 1:33 P.M.[FONT=Impact, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
The impact of the assassination of President Boris Yeltsin was instantaneous and violent. Almost immediately the crowd of hundreds converged upon the troops present, who appeared as confused as they were angry.

“Most of the soldiers were supporters of the President,” Gennady Burbulis would recount, “they were just as shocked and angry at the assassination of Yeltsin as everyone else.”

A witch hunt began almost immediately as the crowd began targeting those Soviet troops who failed to show adequate shock in an attempt to locate the shooter, while other troops looked on. Pulling a young soldier from his tank, witnesses recalled the scream of “his rifle is still hot!’ from the crowd, prompting the angry mob to converge upon the young soldier. Although Soviet troops initially tried to protect the young man, when presented with the rifle (which at this point had apparently been through hundreds of hands) the Soviet troops relented, and in fact took part in the beatings.

“I think there might have been some self preservation there,” Burbulis stated, “all around them their fellow troops were either siding with the protesters or withdrawing. They were put in a tough position, give up this boy or support the coup. There was no middle ground.”

Although history would argue about the identity of the young man killed, what most historians believe is that he was not the shooter.

“Yeltsin was shot by a trained, professional sniper,” stated Burbulis, “not an eighteen year old boy who never fired a gun in his life.”

While the situation outside the White House exploded, the situation inside was not much better.

“Vice President Alexander Rutskoy had seen how the crowd turned on the soldiers and he was aghast;” commented Burbulis, “keep in mind he was a Colonel in the Air Force and had received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. He may have opposed the coup, but what he was witnessing shocked him.”

“I can’t support this anymore,” witnesses recounted the Vice President telling those assembled. “We need to call President Yanayev and tell him we are surrendering.”




Ivanenko denies accusations over role in coup


Time Magazine
May 13, 2003


Russian billionaire and former Russian director of the KGB Victor Ivanenko again defended his role in helping put Vladimir Zhirinovsky in charge of the country during the failed 1991 coup against the Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Ivanenko stepped down as president of the Russian petroleum company Yukos last month, just three months after the removal of former UIS president Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Since then he has dodged accusations of corruption during his time with Yukos, as well as questions about his role in the August 1991 coup. Ivanenko has also been attacked by leaders of the pro democracy movement like Gennady Burbulis, a former ally of Ivanenko who was with him at the White House during the coup.

“I am sick of these accusations,” Ivanenko angrily told FT, “the same people who are critical of my actions are the same ones who were crawling to Gennady Yanayev (one of the leaders of the coup) begging him for forgiveness and pledging fealty!

Ivanenko is widely cited as the man most instrumental in rallying supporters of assassinated Russian president Boris Yeltsin and pro-Gorbachev members of the Communist Party into forming a coalition in opposition to the coup, a coalition which was headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

“Zhirinovsky certainly wasn’t rallying anyone during the coup,” former Russian parliamentary deputy Mikhail Arutyunov told reporters, “all he did for the first two days of the coup was sit at home and nurse his hangover.”

“Arutyunov is just bitter,” Ivanenko shot back, “he knows that after Yeltsin died, that nobody supported his attempts to proclaim himself president. He was despised by the military.”

Repeated calls have come forth calling for the arrest of the former general, who was appointed by former president Boris Yeltsin to head the KGB in 1991. Since his appointment in 1993 as vice president of the petroleum company Yukos, Ivanenko has amassed a personal fortune of over one billion USD, making him the second richest man in Russia. He appeared on the Forbes list of the world’s richest men, and for much of his career with Yukos enjoyed a reputation as one of the heroes of the revolution. However, as the controversial UIS President’s reign collapsed earlier this year, Ivanenko has found himself under increased criticism over his role in the revolution.

“He was the man who picked Zhirinovsky,” Arutyunov said, “he was the man who hobbled that coalition together and gave our country to that madman.”

However, others feel that Ivanenko was backed into a corner on August 20th 1991, when he contacted Zhirinovsky.

“The man who is most responsible for Vladimir Zhirinovsky being named president of Russia is not General Ivanenko,” commented former Ivanenko aid Sergei Filatov, “the man who put Vladimir Zhirinovsky in charge was vice president Alexander Rutskoy when he refused to be sworn in!”






































60 Minutes on CBS News - “The Madman of Moscow ?” from March 13, 1994[FONT=Antique Olive, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Portions of a Mike Wallace interview with Valentin Pavlov, former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.Courtesy of CBS



Mike Wallace: Mr. Pavlov, I want to ask you another question. Did the “State Committee for the State of Emergency” encourage the rioters to act with increasing violence on the night of August 19th?

Valentin Pavlov: That is ridiculous. Of course not!

Wallace: So the statement made by then head of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov, was untrue.

Pavlov: I am not familiar with what statement you are referring to?

Wallace: Let me refresh your memory Mr. Pavlov-

(Wallace picks up a sheet of paper and begins reading from it)

Wallace: This was what Mr. Kryuchkov said during his trial last year, and I quote: “We decided unanimously not to engage the rioters. The riots had a tremendous effect in eliciting fear in those members of the military that were still undecided. We knew that the longer the riots continued, the less credibility Mikhail Arutyunov had, and the more likely it was that the military would side with us.” Is this statement untrue?

Pavlov: It is a bit more complex, we were giving Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy every opportunity to restore order in the areas under his control and not to interfere.

Wallace: So the statement made by Mr. Kyuchlov that you purposely let the Moscow riots continue through the night are true?

Pavlov (long pause): We perhaps showed more restraint than we should have.






UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]Discussing his controversial decision to remain neutral during the August 1991 coup.[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]Putin: Initially, when General Ivanenko contacted me, I was very supportive of President Yeltsin. In fact, I had intended to resign my position with the KGB that day. However, when Yeltsin was killed there was chaos. Nobody knew who was in charge of the country or even who was in charge of the opposition. And then the riots started. I have never seen such lawlessness in my life as I did in the streets of Moscow on the night of August 19th. Some of the rioters were looting and attacking anyone and anything associated with the Communist Party, others were targeting minorities. I saw one group of young men parading around through the streets chanting racist, fascist slogans! Never would I have imagined such a thing was possible in Moscow! I may have opposed the coup, but I couldn’t support this lawlessness. As a result, when I was contacted by General Ivanenko on the second day of the coup, I told him that, although I refused to support the coup, that I couldn’t back Alexander Rutskoy until he took control of the situation.




“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”


Published by Interbook, © 1998


CHAPTER FOUR

As Aleksandr Korzhakov and I carried Yeltsin’s dead body back into the White House I heard the pandemonium outside. But what could we do? I still hoped he could be saved, but Korzhakov knew that it was hopeless. Still, I never thought of trying to seize the leadership or anything like that. How could I? I knew that Vice President Rutskoy was the new President, and I assumed he would continue to stand for the Russian people. I suppose I was naïve, but I never would have guessed that Rutskoy would betray the memory of President Yeltsin in such a way. In that sense, Mikhail Arutyunov was very clever. He was standing right behind Yeltsin when he was shot. He was covered with his blood. Yet he never stepped down. He stood there and spoke to the people, promising that though Yeltsin may have fallen that there would be others who would stand in his place, others who would continue to fight for justice, and others who would give their lives for their country. I am sure it was very powerful. Imagine, a man whose suit is covered in blood, standing next to the fallen Yeltsin, challenging the shooter to strike him down as well?

It wasn’t that I was frightened. To be honest, I just wanted to get Yeltsin inside, to a doctor. I still clung the hope that he could be saved. Perhaps had I stayed with Mikhail, things would have been different. I suppose to some I looked like a coward while Arutyunov looked like a hero. But I was trying to save my President!

When we got into my office we all gathered around to discuss what we were going to do next. We all were concerned about what the GKChP would do to us if we failed. We had no question that they were responsible for the murder of our President. But in that moment I never considered surrendering. I was prepared to fight!

“Mr. President,” Korzhakov said to Vice President Rutskoy, “I think we need to swear you into office.”

At that moment I realized what a mistake it was for President Yeltsin to select such a man as Vice President. He only chose him so that the hard liners would not become too frightened at an “independent” becoming president of Russia. He never had the support of the Democratic Russia coalition and he certainly didn’t have the support of the Russian people. He just stood there, looking at Yeltsin’s body.

“I think it is premature,” he said, “until we figure out who is in charge of the country.”

I was shocked! He was afraid to take any action that could be seen as treason by the GKChP! He was trying to play his cards perfectly, at the expense of our nation!

“Fine!” Yuri Luzhkov, the deputy mayor of Moscow shot back, “Gennady Burbulis is Secretary of State. He will take over as president!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Just twenty minutes ago we were all in agreement, all supporting our President. Now we were arguing like bitter enemies and I was being thrust into the presidency!

“Wait a second,” Korzhakov said as he stood up, “where is Arutyunov?”




From CNN’s twenty-four episode television documentary Cold War.
© 1998
Courtesy of CNN


Episode 24: “Conclusions”

Former NBC Moscow reporter Bob Abernethy:

“In the end, the Soviet Union may have survived as a unified Communist country after the assassination of Yeltsin had Mikhail Arutyunov, Gennady Burbulis and Alexander Rutskoy been willing to compromise. Once it became clear that Arutyunov had usurped the support of the “protesters” outside the White House, it put the pro-democratic forces in disarray. Burbulis had some legal claim to the presidency since he was the Secretary of State. Arutyunov really didn’t have any claim, other than his popularity on the streets. But inside the government and the military, he was seen, unfairly, as leading something of a second coup, trying to seize power for himself. And when it came to Arutyunov and Rutskoy, both men despised each other. In the grab for power on August 19th and 20th, both were both embracing increasingly extreme positions that had the effect of tearing the opposition apart. Rutskoy wanted to end the protest and work with the “State Committee for the State of Emergency” through dialogue, which for many Yeltsin supporters was seen as capitulation. Arutyunov wanted to issue an ultimatum: release Gorbachev or Russia would declare unilateral independence from the Soviet Union. This was seen by other Yeltsin supporters as treason. Neither side was willing to compromise and defer to Burbulis, who was probably the last man who could have held the coalition together. And perhaps more importantly, neither seemed willing to address the growing lawlessness and extremism of the rioters on the street. This was something that worried General Ivanenko, who at that point had become the de facto power broker of the fragile coalition.




Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999



Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991. 11:55 P.M.

As the riots in the streets of Moscow became increasingly violent, neither Vice President Alexander Rutskoy nor the leaders of the GKChP seemed willing or able to deal with the increasing lawlessness. Most historians feel that the failure to address the riot was prompted by strategic reasons.

“Tragically, too many people considered the riots something that could be exploited to their benefit,” commented former US Ambassador Jack Matlock, “the GKChP figured it would frighten opponents in the military into getting off the fence. Vice President Rutskoy figured that the longer the riots went on the more it weakened Mikhail Arutyunov, the man who was emerging as his chief rival for head of the Yeltsin government. And Arutyunov figured that the longer the riots went on the more it would embolden the Russian people. Oddly enough, all three were correct.”


"Kingmaker of the Coup"


Foreign Affairs (2/22/10)
by Victor Ivanenko and Mary Kerr

For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's former right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that destroyed the Soviet Union-- and changed the world.


It was the morning of Aug. 20th, 1991, and the Russian Vice President was standing near a window of the White House watching the most destructive night of lawlessness since the Great Patriotic War, yet he still refused to order any troops to quell the violence.


“We will ride this out,” he told General Victor Ivanenko, “but we cannot be seen as trying to usurp the authority of the President of the Soviet Union.”


His chief rival for the leadership of the Russian government was on the streets, rallying supporters with increasingly incendiary proclamations, telling those on the street that if the coup plotters did not abandon the plot to overthrow Soviet President Gorbachev that he would support a unilateral declaration of independence.


“These two men are going to pull this entire country into anarchy waiting for the other one to blink,” Ivanenko thought to himself, “and I can’t count on the support of the military with this going on.”


For General Ivanenko, the night proved to be disastrous for his loosely assembled coalition. Almost immediately he was able to garner support from large portions of the military and KGB, but as the night went on and the violence grew worse, those same supporters were abandoning him to support the coup.

“Nobody wanted to see the Soviet Union dissolved,” Ivanenko said, “so every time Mikhail Arutyunov opened his mouth I would lose a hundred supporters. And since Vice President Rutskoy was indicating a desire to work with the “State Committee for the State of Emergency”, every second he didn’t open his mouth I would lose another hundred.”

As the coalition stood on the brink of collapse on the morning of August 20th, he tried one last time to reason with the Vice President.

“Mr. President,” Ivanenko said as he put down the phone, “you need to come up with a strategy.”

“I am not president,” Rutskoy coldly responded, “and I will move once that cackling baboon shuts up.”


“I understand your concern, but if this riot is not contained, it may spiral out of control,” Ivanenko responded, “already we are getting reports of riots starting in Leningrad and Kiev.”

Rutskoy said nothing as he stared at his rival through the window. Standing on a tank, Arutyunov was speaking to what appeared to be a crowd of at least ten thousand.

“He is signing his own death warrant,” Rutskoy responded, “If Gennady Yanayev refuses to sign it then I will myself.”

“Mr. Vice President, perhaps we can sign over authority to Secretary of State, Ivanenko said, pointing to Gennady Burbulis. “He has said nothing about Russian independence. At least until your formal swearing in after this matter between Gorbachev and Yanayev is worked out.”

The Vice President said nothing, choosing to ignore the statement. General Ivanenko recognized it was hopeless. He then walked over to the Secretary of State, who also recognized the growing hopelessness of the situation.

“Mr. Secretary of State,” Ivanenko asked, “are you willing to assume the office of the presidency?”

Burbulis looked up at Ivanenko with a defeated glance, “Victor, I’m sorry. But it’s over. The Democratic Russia Coalition doesn’t support the Vice President, and the military doesn’t support me. The only way you can stop the coup is to find someone they both can support. That’s not me. Thanks to Arutyunov, I don’t think that anyone in this building will suffice.”

The General knew that Burbulis was correct. The proclamations of Arutyunov created an aura of extremism that had galvanized the people and the military. It was at this moment that he chose to make the most controversial decision of his life; one that continues to haunt him to this date. Walking back over to the phone, he sat down and dialed a number that he never believed he would have to call.

“Can I please speak with Vladimir Zhirinovsky?”


































Bush snubs chiefs of “Illegal” Coup


August 20, 1991
New York Times
by Alice Kaufman[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]President Bush today told the leaders of Monday's coup in the Soviet Union that the United States would refuse to establish normal relations with them, and he telephoned newly appointed provisional Russian president Vladimir Zhirinovsky to offer support.

"We are not giving up on the restoration of a constitutional government in the Soviet Union," the President declared as protests showed its first signs of waning after the appointment of Zhirinovsky earlier in the day.

After Robert S. Strauss was sworn in as the new United States Ambassador to Moscow, Mr. Bush appeared with him on the White House lawn. The President said Mr. Strauss would travel to the Soviet Union immediately as a special envoy.




NEW OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR RETURN OF GORBACHEV


August 20, 1991
DETROIT FREE PRESS



MOSCOW -- Leaders of yesterday’s coup against Mikhail S. Gorbachev put the city under curfew last night and sent more armor rumbling into the streets in an attempt to quell the growing lawlessness in the streets of Moscow, but the protest against them did not diminish.

Thousands of Muscovites were still standing their ground this morning as the tanks rolled in, drawn to the city center to protest the coup that toppled President Gorbachev and urged on by newly appointed provisional Russian President Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has emerged as the new symbol of their opposition, replacing the assassinated Boris Yeltsin and the controversial Mikhail Arutyunov.

At least two dozen protesters were reported killed by armored military vehicles throughout the night as the coup leaders began desperately trying to restore order in the capital as protest spread throughout the Soviet Union. The move came almost immediately after the pro Yeltsin Democratic Russia Coalition, along with Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, and Russian Secretary of State Gennady Burbulis announced that Zhirinovsky had been named acting head of state for the Russian SSR early this morning. The news was met with mixed reaction from the protesters, but nonetheless did seem to revitalize the fragile opposition. Thousands of demonstrators gathered near the White House waiting grimly for a full-fledged armored assault that never came.


Meanwhile, the first cracks appeared in the ruling junta's ranks today, fueling the opposition and giving it a much needed boost.


One member quit the eight-man junta running the country, the so-called Committee for the State Emergency, and another was reported to be having serious health problems. Deep pockets of resistance to the leaders of the coup also became evident throughout the country; although Mr. Zhirinovsky’s supporters seem to be taking a considerably less prominent role than the supporters of the deceased former president Yeltsin. About 50,000 demonstrators flowed to the Russian parliament building where Mr. Yeltsin was killed, most chanting pro-Yeltsin slogans.

“I support Vladimir Zhirinovsky for only one reason,” said one protester, “he is the enemy of the men who killed Yeltsin, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Mr. Zhirinovsky has yet to make any public statement since his appointment as acting head of state for the Russian SSR, nor has he been seen in public since a failed attempt to arrest him yesterday morning led to a clash between pro-coup factions of the military and supporters of Mr. Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party. However, a written statement was issued in his name from the Russian White House, where some believe he may be holding out with other supporters of the anti-coup faction.

Mr. Zhirinovsky had called on his supporters to join with supporters of the deceased president and “all patriots who love their country” to come to the Russian Federation building and to maintain a vigil against armed attack by the new government.

The statement prompted the coup leaders to begin cracking down on the protest for the first time; a move that many foreign observers stated was an attempt to prevent the opposition from regrouping after the assassination of their leader. However, although the riots in Moscow have eased somewhat, the opposition to the coup has only intensified, with thousands coming to the White House. Some protesters were armed only with a giant two-block-long banner in the three colors of the old white, blue and red czarist Russian flag, which they then strung across the bottom of the federation building.

Mr. Zhirinovsky also called on the leaders of the coup to produce Mr. Gorbachev - who has reportedly been under arrest at his vacation home in the Crimea since early Monday morning. The leaders of the coup announced that he was too ill to lead the county. Mr. Zhirinovsky’s written statement demanded that World Health Organization doctors be allowed to examine Mr. Gorbachev.

The junta countered with a decree declaring the appointment of Mr. Zhirinovsky illegal, and for him to step down as provisional head of state of the Russian Republic.

However, the appointment of Mr. Zhirinovsky, coupled with the ineptitude of the leaders of the coup to deal with the riots, led to defections to the opposition. At about three PM, Soviet television confirmed that defense minister General Dmitry T. Yazov had resigned from the junta, and it also reported that the unpopular Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov was being treated in a hospital for hypertension.

Reports were broadcast over loudspeakers of Mr. Yazov's resignation and Mr. Pavlov's illness.

The news electrified the crowd, who cheered loudly.




60 Minutes on CBS News - “The Madman of Moscow ?” from March 13, 1994

Portions of a Mike Wallace interview with Valentin Pavlov, former Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.Courtesy of CBS



Mike Wallace: Mr. Pavlov, if Mr. Zhirinovsky was, as you allege, a KGB mole, why did he join the opposition?

Valentin Pavlov: Isn’t it obvious. He saw this as a civil war within the KGB. On one side you had Vladimir Kryuchkov, chairman of the Soviet KGB who was with us, and on the other you had Victor Ivanenko, chairman of the Russian KGB, who supported Yeltsin. When General Valentin Varennikov tried to arrest him before the coup, it thrust him into the arms of Ivanenko.

Wallace: Why did the announcement of Mr. Zhirinovsky as acting head of state prompt the committee to act with such forcefulness?

Pavlov: We realized nobody was really in control of the opposition, and they would never act to control the riots. Vice President Rutskoy was doing nothing, and naming Zhirinovsky as head of state appeared to be an act of desperation. He wasn’t even in the White House! How could he do anything?

Wallace: So it wasn’t fear that he would rally the opposition?

Pavlov: No. But in hindsight, he did have that effect. The riots did something to our nation in 24 hours…it showed us how fragile it had become. Suddenly men like General Yazov, loyal lifetime members of the Communist Party, stopped caring about communism. They cared nothing about politics anymore. They saw the country tearing itself apart and they wanted only to hold the country together. If that meant supporting a man like Vladimir Zhirinovsky, they would do it.

Wallace: So Zhirinovsky did fracture the committee and drive some members into the opposition?

Pavlov: By August 20th the coup and Gorbachev became the side story. The real story was that the Soviet Union was about to implode. And once that became clear, everyone, including myself, looked at things differently.

Wallace: Is that what led to you being admitted into the hospital on the second day of the coup?

Pavlov: I recognized that we were winning the battle but losing the war. We were going to take control of the county from the opposition and from Gorbachev, but what would be left of the country?




Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow”by Edward Ellis.
Published by Random House © 1999




Moscow, USSR. August 20, 1991. 5:33 P.M.

The appointment of Vladimir Zhirinovsky had an immediate effect of the opposition, but by most accounts little of it had to do with the controversial politician himself. For much of the day, General Ivanenko contacted friends in the military and KGB, now with a new message condemning the inaction of the GKChP and the coming disillusion of the Soviet Union.

“He made a very strong argument to those members of the military that just one day ago were firmly in the pocket of the GKChP,” commented Sergei Filatov, “the country is imploding and the GKChP is doing nothing. Already you had Armenia, Lithuania, and other republics that had declared independence. If the lawlessness continued, or if we let ourselves get dragged into civil war, the Soviet Union would be finished. If the GKChP couldn’t stop the riots, then we needed to support someone who could.”

The fear of civil war permitted many members of both the opposition and of the military to support Zhirinovsky, who it was assured would only fill in as acting head of state until the end of the crisis. For members of the Democratic Russian Coalition, he had only one thing going for him: he was not a member of the Communist Party. For the Communist and the military, he had only one thing going for him: he didn’t want to see the Soviet Union dissolved. Everything else could be put aside while the riots were going on.




From CNN’s twenty-four episode television documentary Cold War.
© 1998
Courtesy of CNN



Episode 24: “Conclusions”


Former NBC Moscow reporter Bob Abernethy:

“The greatest irony is not that Vladimir Zhirinovsky was selected to lead Russia during the coup, but that the main reason he was selected was because he seemed like the only man who could hold the country together. In the end, I suppose that’s what he did. But at what cost? It certainly wasn’t the Soviet Union that his backers from the Communist Party envisioned, nor was it the democratic nation that supporters of Boris Yeltsin envisioned.




"Kingmaker of the Coup"


Foreign Affairs (2/22/10)
by Victor Ivanenko and Mary Kerr

For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's former right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that destroyed the Soviet Union-- and changed the world.



By the afternoon of Aug. 20th, 1991 it became apparent to all that the GKChP realized they had overplayed their hand, and would now stop at nothing to crush the revolt and do so quickly. The first indication was when Moscow military district commander General Kalinin, a supporter of the coup, declared a curfew in Moscow for the night of August 20th. Vice President Rutskoy, who only reluctantly agreed to defer power to Vladimir Zhirinovsky for a period of 72-hours, immediately indicated a desire to contact the GKChP and sue for peace. But he was overruled by Burbulis and Ivanenko, who recognized the cracks in the GKChP. Ivanenko, who had lost over 80% of supporters of Yeltsin over the night, suddenly gained support for the opposition as members of the military began calling asking for orders from the newly appointed head of state.

“They want the order to crush the riots,” Burbulis told Ivanenko, “and right now they don’t care who gives it.”

But for Ivanenko and Burbulis, the pressing concern was for what they saw as the imminent attack on the White House from General Kalinin. Both realized that the belated attempts to crack down on the rioters, coupled with the announced curfew, could only mean that there would soon be an assault on the White House.

“We need to act,” Burbulis told supporters, “we need a show of force.”

Although Vladimir Zhirinovsky was “asked” not to come to the White House, an order he was more than happy to comply with, he was still authorizing statements to be made on his behalf. And Ivanenko could see that although the crackdown on the rioters was not as successful as was hoped, he also knew that it would not be long before the military would crush the riot completely.

It was enough to prompt the General to act. He prepared a statement and called Zhirinovsky.

“Mr. Zhirinovsky,” he said over the phone, “I have a statement, and I need you to make it yourself.”

A long pause followed.

“Yes, I am afraid that means you will have to leave your dacha and come here to the White House.”














































[FONT=Impact, sans-serif]PART SEVEN - A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR AHEAD[/FONT]






Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.

Published by Random House © 1999




Moscow, USSR. August 20, 1991. 9:38 P.M.

The arrival of Vladimir Zhirinovsky outside the White House had an immediate effect on the crowd, some of whom regarded the Liberal Democratic leader with either suspicion or disdain. For supporters of Mikhail Arutyunov, Zhirinovsky was initially greeted with scorn.

“At first he looked like a sheep being led into the Lion’s den,” commented Yuri Rozhnov, an Arutyunov supporter who was present, “he looked overwhelmed. And when he started reading the prepared statement the crowd became restless.”

Zhirinovsky initially called for calm and for an end to violence, but many in the crowd who surrounded Zhirinovsky began to shout him down.

“They are beating us!’ some of the protesters began to yell, in reference to the increased pressure from security forces. The phrase grew into a chant, drowning out Zhirinovsky’s attempts to call for calm.

“I honestly would not have been surprised if he just turned away and ran,” Rozhnov would recall, “but then he said something that won the crowd instantly.”

“My fellow Russians!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement, “Nobody will dare beat you again!”


20 years ago: Trembling in the midst of Soviet coup




By John Makela, NBC News correspondentAugust 21, 2011



Watching the trembling Zhirinovsky try and read a prepared statement, most of us with the press thought that his tenure as head of state would end as abruptly as it began. We heard rumors that this alleged extreme nationalist was also one of the most powerful speakers in Russian politics. But as we stood there watching him tremble as he read from that prepared statement, with the crowd becoming angrier at his calls for calm, it looked as if the great compromise would fall apart before it even took off. But a curious thing then occurred. People started chanting “They are beating us!” in reference to the military and police. Although orders had come down from the “Gang of Eight”, the committee was fractured beyond repair and some troops were slow in carrying out the order. Nonetheless, in those places where the authorities did crack down, they did so with extreme force. This had created a tinderbox, with a small number of badly beaten Muscovites straggling into the restless crowd from other parts of the city. These injured protesters enflamed the others with tales of government brutality.

I suddenly was taken back to Kosovo in 1987, when Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was bombarded with similar chants from fellow Serbs in reference to the heavy handed tactics of the Yugoslavian authorities. “By God,” I thought, “they are throwing him a softball!”


I knew that Zhirinovsky was an admirer of Milosevic, and I could see in his eyes that he saw an opening. He struggled with his speech calling for peace because he never really believed in peace. He was a nationalist, not a democrat as many of us in the West wanted to believe in 1991.


“Nobody will dare beat you again!” Zhirinovsky yelled as he tore up the prepared statement. The statement electrified the crowd, who now embraced Zhirinovsky with considerable gusto, “For far too long, the Russian people have been beaten. Beaten by those who wish to see us relegated to the role of serfs in our own country! But the era of serfdom ends today! We will not bow down to the Turks! And we will never bow down to those who will try and rob us of our dignity!”


The crowd erupted, and even those of us from the press seemed to overlook that one word: ‘Turks’. We were so caught up in this call for “dignity” and freedom that we didn’t stop and listen to the speech for what it was: xenophobia. For many in the crowd, the recognition of an oppressed Russia was enough to win them over. They now had a president who wasn’t afraid to say what they, and the rest of the world, knew was true: that they were being oppressed. Perhaps this will signal a new era in Russia we all thought.


Zhirinovsky then followed the statement with a command, for all “ethnic Russian troops, loyal to their country” to refrain from beating any of the protesters at the White House or Gorky Park.


We didn’t realize the significance of the caveat, but with that one phrase, he was able to sell his original message in opposition to the riots. He reiterated his call for calm and even told those same Russian soldiers to quash the riots with all of the means at their disposal…just not at the White House or Gorky Park.

I always wondered if Zhirinovsky’s Serbian speech (as the press so scornfully called it that day) was in fact planned. Was it like the original Milosevic speech in Kosovo, an instinctive statement, or did he know what sort of impact it would have on Russian ears. It is hard to say, but I have come to learn from watching Zhirinovsky over the years, one can never underestimate his ability to manipulate any situation to his advantage…and to his agenda.

The riots were already teetering out when he gave that speech. And contact with Gorbachev had just been reestablished. The funny thing about Vladimir Zhirinovsky is this: he is always a day late, and yet he still ends up a dollar ahead.



Soviet Coup Attempt Fails
Gorbachev Returning To Moscow;
Plotters on the Run; Prosecutor Sees `Signs Of A State Crime`


August 21, 1991
By Vincent J. Shanks,
Chicago Tribune.


MOSCOW — A coup aimed at unseating Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, reversing his reforms and crushing the Democratic Russia coalition, headed by former Russian president Boris Yeltsin collapsed Wednesday in the face of violent riots and overwhelming public opposition to the coup leaders.

Staged by hard-line Kremlin conservatives and opponents of political and economic reform, the coup lasted three days. Despite the failure of the coup in succeeding, Russian and Soviet pro democratic forces paid a heavy price after the assassination of President Yeltsin prompted violent riots that nearly spiraled into civil war. Over the course of the three days, many people massed in the hundreds of thousands in cities all across the Soviet Union to display their support for Gorbachev and newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

The coup’s failure may have sounded the death knell for the Communist Party, as newly appointed Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky, founder of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, has railed against the Communist Party in his first speech as leader of the largest Soviet republic. After promising that the government would not “dare beat you anymore” he then called on Russians to condemn the riots and even indicated a desire to scrap the “untenable political fiction” that is the government of the Soviet Union, and replace it with one committed to defending the “Russian people.”

Whether or not Zhirinovsky can implement any real change is yet to be seen. Vice President Rutskoy has also released a statement to the press indicating a desire to end the speculation as to succession and to be sworn in as president of Russia. Also, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has indicated in his first public address since communication had been restored, that despite the events over the last three days, he is unwilling to abandon the Communist Party. However, early reports are that at least a dozen Russian politicians and military leaders have renounced their Communist Party membership and joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, including most recently General Alexander Lebed.

What appears clear is that the hard-liners and right-wingers of the Communist Party have been seriously weakened by the events over the last three days. The Soviet Parliament met to formally reinstate Gorbachev as president. It also ruled illegal all decrees and orders issued by the coup committee and listed the curfew in Moscow.

Gorbachev had been on vacation in the Crimea when the coup began. At 1:30 p.m. Chicago time Wednesday he was reported on a plane back to Moscow.

“The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR rules that the removal of President Mikhail Gorbachev from his constitutional duties and their transfer to the Vice President was illegal,” the official news agency Tass reported, quoting from the presidium’s decree.

The presidium also announced it was setting up an investigating commission to search for the conspirators in the coup.


The Soviet prosecutor general’s office announced it also would pursue a criminal investigation into the actions of the members of the coup committee. Tass said the prosecutor’s early review of the case discovered “signs of a state crime.”

After a tense night, the announcement that the coup was over was greeted by a spontaneous celebration that was echoed in other Soviet cities. Tow trucks began to remove the buses, cars and debris that the protesters and rioters used to construct big barricades around the Russian Federation Building. Groups of supporters cheered, flipped victory signs at passersby and listened intently to their portable radios.

Although there were still groups of soldiers standing around with their equipment, there was an almost overwhelming sense of relaxation in the capital city. Most of the remaining soldiers have declared their loyalty to the Russian opposition.

“It was clear to us that the Soviet government was worthless,” one officer said in reference to the coup leaders, “but the Russian government proved it mettle yesterday.”
When asked if this was a statement of support of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the soldier responded angrily.

“What this proves is you can’t have a government full of Turks, and Georgians, and non-Russians and expect Russia to end up being treated fairly. We’ve seen that giving those Republics anything was a mistake. Now it is time to get rid of the Union and give each citizen one vote in a united country that is committed to justice.


“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”


Published by Interbook, © 1998[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
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CHAPTER TEN[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]

[/FONT]As soon as it was announced that Russian Soviet President Gorbachev returned I saw an immediate change in Vice President Rutskoy. He recognized that he made a tremendous mistake in not accepting the opportunity to be sworn in as president, and he was scrambling to undo the damage that his indecisiveness had caused. As Vladimir Zhirinovsky walked into the White House after his controversial Serbian speech, we all greeted him cordially. Except Mr. Rutskoy, who simply nodded and plotted his ascension into power. Oddly enough, it at first looked like he would succeed. The agreement was for Mr. Zhirinovsky to be head-of-state for only 72-hours or until order was restored. As Mr. Zhirinovsky prepared to leave the White House and go to the airport to meet with President Gorbachev, he was intercepted by Mr. Rutskoy, who bluntly told him that “your services to the country are no longer needed.” Mr. Zhirinovsky angrily shot back that he was still head-of-state, but to no avail. Mr. Rutskoy coldly responded that he would be sworn in at the next meeting of the Russian Duma, and that for right now Mr. Zhirinovsky needn’t worry about “complex matters of politics.”

Mr. Zhirinovsky’s face turned beat red with anger. I knew we had a problem, but to be honest, we all despised Mr. Rutskoy at that moment. We were probably all silently hoping Zhirinovsky would put him in his place.

“Mr. Ivanenko,” Zhirinovsky fired back, “please tell Mr. Rutskoy who is in charge here.”

“Comrades, we will have time to settle this later today when the Russian Congress meets to hear President Gorbachev speak,” Mr. Ivanenko said as he rubbed his eyes in frustration, “right now we have other matters to focus on.”

“And who will greet Mr. Gorbachev?” Mr. Rutskoy demanded.

Mr. Ivanenko looked at Vice President Rutskoy with a look of disgust and apathy.

“Fine, if you insist, you can meet Mr. Gorbachev and Prime Minister Silayev at the airport.”


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]"Kingmaker of the Coup"


Foreign Affairs (2/22/10)
by Victor Ivanenko and Mary Kerr

For the first time, Boris Yeltsin's former right-hand man tells the inside story of the coup that destroyed the Soviet Union-- and changed the world.




As Vladimir Zhirinovsky stormed out of the White House, Gennady Burbulis turned to General Ivanenko, who was visibly upset.

“This could lead to war,” Ivanenko said, “if we don’t get control of those two idiots.”

Yuri Luzhkov, the deputy mayor of Moscow, smiled as he put his hand on Ivanenko’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry comrade,” he said with a chuckle, “it is up to the Russian Parliament to sort this out now. And now they can see that neither Rutskoy nor Zhirinovsky is a viable choice. They will remove Zhirinovsky as head of state, impeach Rutskoy, and afterwards Gennady Burbulis will be sworn in as president and Ivan Silayev will be named head of Parliament. The important thing is we stopped the coup.”

Ivanenko and Burbulis remained troubled nonetheless.

“And what about those two,” Burbulis said nervously, “one of those two still leads the country.”


[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]AFTER THE COUP: ZHIRINOVSKY IS ROUTING COMMUNIST PARTY FROM KEY ROLES THROUGHOUT RUSSIA; HE FORCES VAST GORBACHEV SHAKE-UP[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT]

New York TimesPublished: August 23, 1991



A massive political shock wave swept through the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the failed coup today as the Communist Party began to implode across the nation and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev yielded to the demands of both the newly appointed Russian acting head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, who has declared himself president of the Russian republic.

Mr. Gorbachev, struggling to regain his role as leader of the nation after three days as a hostage during a failed coup by hard-line Communists, spoke before the Russian Republic's Parliament. During his appearance, broadcast on national television, he found himself facing an openly hostile and shockingly abusive audience. He was heckled by the lawmakers for remaining loyal to the Communist Party after the national ordeal of the last five days.

Mr. Rutskoy, who never concealed his contempt towards Mr. Gorbachev, spent much of the day prodding the Soviet leader for more power-sharing and signing fresh writs to shut down the Communist Party's newspapers and severely limit its activities on Russian soil. However, he appeared to be outflanked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who in turn forced Mr. Gorbachev to replace his whole Cabinet and name many replacements loyal to the Liberal Democratic leader. Perhaps most noteworthy was the promotion of Colonel Alexander Lebed to General, and his subsequent appointment as Marshall of the Soviet Union. Lebed replaces the disgraced Dmitry Yazov, who was arrested for his role as part of the failed coup.

Rutskoy’s move against the Party was duplicated across the Soviet Union, as a wave of indignation and demands for change swept from Estonia to Central Asia.

The mood of increased anger against both the Communist Party and the K.G.B. has created an air of uncertainty. While President Gorbachev warned against a "witch hunt," many officials rushed to join both Mr. Rutskoy and Mr. Zhirinovsky in calling for a reformed system.

“The Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky said to Gorbachev on national television, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists.”

The statement brought many of the members of the Russian parliament to their feet in cheers.

Newspapers Locked Up

The party's newspapers and offices were being locked up or were being handed over to local leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party. Publication of Pravda, the once-dominant party newspaper which supported the coup, was suspended and turned over to the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces: General Viktor Dubynin.

Though the anti-communist drive appeared to be gaining momentum, thus far the opposition has been badly fractured by political bickering and in-fighting, created a vacuum with the numerous opposition leaders and groups. This uncertainty over the future of the Soviet Union appeared to be heightened by the murky shape of power-sharing between the Kremlin and republics, and between Mr. Rutskoy, Mr. Gorbachev, and Mr. Zhirinovsky.

However, for many insiders, it appeared that the shift of executive power was tilting in favor of Mr. Zhirinovsky. His eulogy for the Communist Party won him supporters from numerous unlikely sources, including many in the military.


While President Gorbachev argued that it was unfair to blame all Communists for the failed coup, he found himself increasingly isolated politically as crowds, often backed up by the local authorities, brought down Lenin statues all over the country. In Russia, many of the statutes are also being defaced with graffiti after being brought down, often with the initials LDP (the initials of Zhirinovsky’s Liberal Democratic Party).




CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR

August 18, 2000


CNN: So how did Vladimir Zhirinovsky so effectively consolidate power in just two days?

Matlock: The problem was that Gorbachev was a lame duck, but nobody realized that yet. The only chance he had was to renounce the Communist Party, because all over Russia and the Soviet Union statutes of Lenin were being torn down and Communist Party buildings were being taken over by local authorities. But he didn’t, and when Vice President Rutskoy went to the airport to meet Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev and Gorbachev, he really was tying himself to a sinking ship. Meanwhile Vladimir Zhirinovsky was wheeling and dealing with these politicians who had, in contrast, become rudderless ships. When Gorbachev started speaking to the Russian Parliament it didn’t take long to turn into a witch hunt. First, you had reformers who were calling for the immediate dissolution of the Soviet Union, which frightened nationalists. Then you had Alexander Rutskoy, who emerged as so discredited during the coup that the very idea of him being named president was appalling to both reformers and hardliners. And now communists were terrified of being “thrown under the bus” like Anatoly Lukyanov had been. It was a perfect combination that allowed Zhirinovsky to turn the Soviet Union into a fascist dictatorship in one day.

CNN: How did he do that?

Matlock: He threw them all a lifeline.



GORBACHEV HECKLED AS COMMUNIST PARTY COLLAPSES[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
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August 22, 1991
USA Today


Russian lawmakers made no secret of how little authority Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev retained after his arrest during the failed hard line coup this week. In front of TV cameras broadcasting to a national television audience they interrupted Mr. Gorbachev's address with heckling and demands that he abandon the Communist Party and dislodge it from its position in the Soviet government.

Gorbachev remained firmly on the defensive as three emerging factions of the opposition took turns attacking Mr. Gorbachev. Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky took turns making demands of the Soviet leader, who meekly complied with most of them. A third lawmaker, Mikhail Arutyunov, also attacked Mr. Gorbachev, although he failed to make any demand except his insistence on Mr. Gorbachev proclaiming the “dissolution of the Soviet Union.”

Mr. Gorbachev finally drew a positive, rousing response from lawmakers when he said "This whole Government has got to resign."

While a handful of the more reform minded members of Mr. Gorbachev's inner circle have already quit the Communist Party and joined forces with one of the three emerging factions of the opposition, a large number of communists, both Gorbachev loyalist and hardliners, find themselves increasingly isolated in this new political environment.

During the session, the Premier of the Russian Republic, Ivan Silayev, charged that Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov, Mr. Gorbachev's friend and most trusted aide, was "the chief ideologist of this junta."

Mr. Gorbachev, whom Mr. Lukyanov met when they attended law school together nearly forty years ago, said he had met with his old friend, but still had some questions of the loyalty of his long time aid. With the Soviet Parliament to meet in an emergency session of the legislature on Monday, the governing presidium of the Soviet Parliament announced that Mr. Lukyanov would not preside over the proceedings until the investigation to establish his role in the crisis reached a conclusion.

A new prime minister had not yet been named to replace Valentin S. Pavlov, who was one of the leaders of the coup and has been hospitalized under police guard since the coup ended.

In related news, several junta members were arrested including Dmitri Yazov, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, General Valentin I. Varennikov, Valery Boldin, Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, and Gennady Yanayev. Coup plotter Boris Pugo committed suicide earlier today.

While Vice President Rutskoy and Deputy Mikhail Arutyunov called for the resignation of other members of both the Russian Supreme Soviet and the Supreme Soviet of the Union, Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky indicated that he was not interested in “purges” but rather preserving the “Union.”


[FONT=Georgia, serif]
[/FONT]Excerpts from the book “Three Days in Moscow” by Edward Ellis.


Published by Random House © 1999




Moscow, USSR. August 22, 1991. 1:33 P.M.[FONT=Georgia, serif]
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As Gorbachev became even more marginalized during the course of the parliamentary hearing, the mood soon switched to one of radical extremism. Rutskoy, who was perhaps the only man more unpopular that Gorbachev at that point, resorted to “writs” issued in his name to shut down the Communist Party; writs that carried no authority. However, several members of the opposition screamed at Rutskoy for “writing the book for the Lithuanians and Ukrainians” on independence, noting that the other republics were following his lead and using the purge on the Communist Party to rid themselves of central authority.

“We should have democracy across the Soviet Union,” shouted one reformist deputy, “not just in Russia.”

“What about our countrymen who find themselves across some invisible line Stalin drew across the middle of the country?” asked one Liberal Democratic deputy, “are they to suffer at the hands of the barbarians so that you can have absolute power in a rump Russia?”

Rutskoy, perhaps recognizing that the mood was quickly turning against him, and recognizing chants from deputies to explain his actions during the coup, attempted to turn attention towards the one man who even his enemies could agree was more culpable for the sad state of affairs of the country: Mikhail Gorbachev.

Constantly demeaning and berating the Soviet president, Rutskoy tried to garner support to his position through increased bullying tactics, which in turn served only to alienate many of the moderates. Before long the mood had turned into one of a Stalinist era purge.

“When Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev called for the Chairman of the Soviet Parliament Anatoly Lukyanov’s head, we all sunk in our chairs,” commented one deputy from the Communist Party, “they were going after all of us, even the moderates. Anyone who was a communist was about to be accused of treason, and Gorbachev refused to stand up for us. If he couldn’t stand up for his friend, what hope did we have?”

It was at that time that Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who had just moments ago declared the Communist Party “dead”, single-handedly put the final nail in the coffin of both the Communist Party and the political aspirations of Vice President Rutskoy.

“You are all traitors!” he yelled as he turned towards the Parliament, “the communists are finished, we can all see that! But you still want to drag their corpse through the streets of Moscow while the barbarians and the Zionists are dragging our Russian brothers through the streets of Baku, and Riga, and Kiev! I say, put aside your anger at the communists and embrace your country, your Russian country which calls to you right now in desperation!”

Zhirinovsky then turned to Gorbachev and pointed his finger at the Soviet leader.

“Mr. President, the Communist Party is dead,” Mr. Zhirinovsky yelled, “and your choice is to live with a free Russia or die with the communists. Your loyalty to the party is understandable, but your loyalty to your country should come first. Will you join us?”

Gorbachev looked visibly shaken at the statement, as he meekly tried to defend the Party, calling on lawmakers not to blame all communists for the actions of a few. But Zhirinovsky interrupted him and again turned to his fellow members of Parliament, and spoke the words that would go down in history.

“Comrades,” he yelled, “we must act now. I will hereby declare that the era of purges in Russia is over! I am not Stalin! I do not wish to have show trials, I want freedom! Not just for me, but for the Russian who is locked in his home right now in Riga, afraid to show his face…in his own country! To the Russian in Baku who is fearful of a pogrom against his neighbors and family…in his own country! I stand for them. And I call on all of you to join me! Join the Liberal Democrats! I promise you all this…if you reject your previous ties to the Communist Party and accept this olive branch I offer, and accept the membership in the Liberal Democratic Party that I hereby offer to you right now, I will not seek any retribution nor will I seek any purges. I want what you want, a free and democratic country, and our country needs us now! Stand with me and purge your sins against Mother Russia from your conscience and know that your grandchildren will call you patriots when they speak of you to their grandchildren! Join us and let us defend democracy and freedom for all Russians!”

For the first time that day the halls of the Russian Parliament was silent. None spoke as Zhirinovsky held his arms out as if being crucified on an invisible cross. President Gorbachev looked disapprovingly at Zhirinovsky, who still held himself in the comical stance in a desperate call for allies. Gorbachev was prepared to speak when he was again interrupted, only this time it was not a Russian deputy who stopped him in his tracks. Gorbachev looked on with horror as the spectator stood up.

“Comrade Zhirinovsky,” Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov said as he walked past his lifetime friend Mikhail Gorbachev and towards the podium, “I accept your offer of amnesty and hereby renounce my membership in the Communist Party.”








COMMUNIST PARTY NO LONGER IN CONTROL IN USSR

August 24, 1991
By Bill England
Moscow Bureau of The Denver Post



MOSCOW -- Mikhail S. Gorbachev's faced the second major challenge to his presidency this week, as hundreds of deputies in both the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union and the Russian Congress of People's Deputies abandoned the Communist Party en masse. Nearly all of them left to join the once obscure political party founded by the Russian-head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky. In a development that would have been unheard of just a few days ago, the Communist Party finds itself for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution as a minority party in both the Russian and Soviet Parliaments. Over the last twenty-four hours two hundred and seventy five deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the Union, or the Soviet Congress, announced that they were following President of the Supreme Soviet Anatoly Lukyanov in joining the Liberal Democratic Party. With the majority of the remaining 267 deputies being members of the second house of the Supreme Soviet, the Soviet of Nationalities, few elected to remain in the Kremlin, choosing to return to their respective republics.


“It no longer is a Union,” commented Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities Rafiq Nishonov as he resigned his post and prepared to fly back to his home in Uzbekistan, “it’s an attempt to create a Greater Russia at the expense of the other Republics.”


Nishonov’s fellow chairman, Ivan Laptev, Chairman of the other chamber of the Supreme Soviet, elected to remain in the Kremlin, however he declined Mr. Zhirinovsky’s offer of amnesty and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of complicity with the coup plotters.


Liberal Democratic leader and provisional Russian head-of state Vladimir Zhirinovsky criticized both Laptev and Nishonov.


“What we want is a democracy that respects the basic human rights of our citizens, not the failed communist policies of Mr. Laptev,” Zhirinovsky told the Russian media, “and if Nishonov honestly believes he can run from freedom and hide in some self proclaimed Uzbek caliphate then he is signing his own death warrant. The Russian people will not tolerate an Islamic dictatorship in our country.”


Several reformers have criticized Mr. Zhirinovsky’s “olive branch” approach, stating that many hardliners have accepted his offer simply to avoid prosecution. Others fear that with such a large number of former communists now in the Liberal Democratic Party, that it may find itself unable to implement true democratic reform. However, the newly enlarged Liberal Democratic Party has appealed not only to former communists, both moderate and hard-line, but also some of former president Boris Yeltsin’s closest allies. Konstantin Lubenchenko, a liberal People's Deputy in the Soviet Congress, and chairman of the International Association of Parliamentarians, has joined the Liberal Democratic Party and has encouraged the extra-governmental organization of 190 reform-minded legislators to follow his lead.

“This is our opportunity to shape our country into a democracy,” Lubenchenko said, “This is our opportunity to build a better Russia for all.”




SOVIET TURMOIL; GORBACHEV QUITS AS PARTY HEAD; ENDS COMMUNISM'S 74-YEAR REIGN

USA TODAY
Published: August 25, 1991



President Mikhail S. Gorbachev resigned today as the head of the Communist Party, disbanded its leadership and virtually banned the once dominant party which possessed total control of the government for more than seven decades. However, it appeared to be “too little too late” as numerous communists have already bolted from the Party to join the reform minded Liberal Democratic Party, which has embraced a platform of “democracy and unity”. The move to disband the leadership of the Communist Party has done little to win Mr. Gorbachev any support from the Liberal Democrats who are now emerging as the power brokers in the Soviet Union. However, the actions of Mr. Gorbachev did appear to destroy his last bastion of support with the few holdovers in the Communist Party.

“He has betrayed us all,” screamed Supreme Soviet Chairman Ivan Laptev, as he was arrested in the Kremlin, “we counted on him to stand by the party and instead he throws us off like dead weight!”


The move clearly alienated the remaining members of the Communist Party in Russia and several of the other republics. In Russia another 87 deputies switched to the Liberal Democratic Party, giving Russian head-of-state Vladimir Zhirinovsky a majority in the Russian Congress as well as the Supreme Soviet. With the sudden majority, The Supreme Soviet of the Russian Republic began impeachment proceedings against Vice President Alexander Rutskoy. Most Russians believe that Soviet Parliamentary Chairman Anatoly Lukyanov, who switched to the LDPR yesterday, will initiate similar proceedings against Mr. Gorbachev on Monday when the Soviet parliament holds an emergency session. Lukyanov has already issued two decrees, one declaring that all property of the Communist Party in the USSR is now to be declared property of the Liberal Democratic Party, a move that has proved controversial in some of the other republics. Mr. Zhirinovsky says that it his intention to privatize the Communist Party holdings and to enact market reforms such as the introduction of private property and a sharp turn to a free-market economy.

With Communism now collapsing across the Soviet Union, Mr. Gorbachev abandoned his efforts to defend the maligned party, but still refused to join any of the major opposition parties that have emerged in opposition to him. However, his actions appear to only be isolating the Soviet president further from ordinary Soviet citizens. Although Mr. Gorbachev seemed to be seeking some way of remaining a legitimate political leader, his reputation has been badly damaged over the course of the last week.


Mr. Gorbachev’s actions were accompanied by turmoil and political in-fighting in several of the Soviet republics. In a shocking move, Vice President Rutskoy accorded formal recognition to the independence of three of the Baltic republics, as well as promising the Parliament of the Ukraine, the nation's second-largest republic, that he would support its "right to be heard”. The statement was quickly attacked by Mr. Zhirinovsky, who called it a “treason" and a "sorry way to try and garner support from the West to his illegal claim to the presidency.” Zhirinovsky even hinted that the statement was more treasonous that the actions of the coup plotters. However, political infighting in the Ukraine has led to chaos and fears of a potential civil war as Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk appeared to have been ousted by Communist Party Chair Stanislav Hurenko. Hurenko, who claimed Kravchuk failed in his duties for “not sending troops to the Crimea to end the coup that was happening in his republic,” also renounced his membership in the Communist Party, and proclaimed the “Liberal Democratic Party of the Ukraine.” He subsequently issued three orders, seizure of all Communist Party property, and the arrest of pro independence Ukrainian politicians Levko Lukianenko, Dmytro Pavlychko, Ivan Drach, and Vyacheslav Chornovil. He also cancelled the scheduled special emergency session of the Ukrainian Parliament, which many Soviet observers believe was a precursor to a planned declaration of independence.

Hurenko told his colleagues that he could not allow a vote for Ukrainian independence in the special session, adding "nam bude bida" (there will be trouble for us).


The recognition of the independence of the Baltic republics by Rutskoy did seem to encourage the European Community to also recognize their independence. The Soviet Republic of Belarus, which is still controlled by communist hardliners, has indicated that it also may seek independence, citing fears of Mr. Zhirinovsky’s seizure of Communist Party property as a major reason. The Republic of Georgia is also believed to be contemplating independence as close Gorbachev ally Eduard A. Shevardnadze has fled Moscow and returned to Tbilisi, citing concerns about the “tone” of the discussion in Russia now.

The dramatic campaign against the Communist Party has led to its headquarters in Moscow being taken over by the Liberal Democratic Party. The party was also banned entirely in Moldavia and the Baltic republics. And in Leningrad the Liberal Democratic Party seized the Communist Party headquarters at the Smolny Institute, a symbolic location as the place where Lenin had his first headquarters.

Mr. Gorbachev's actions came after an emotion-charged day in which hundreds of thousands of Muscovites turned out to bury the former president of the Russian Republic, Boris Yeltsin, along with over one thousand other Soviets killed in the violence that followed the coup. Mr. Yeltsin, whose coffin was carried alongside three Muscovites killed in the Battle of Gorky Park, was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal by President Gorbachev, who was barred from attending the ceremony by his own Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Lebed, citing security risks.




CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR

August 18, 2000


CNN: Was there any chance Gorbachev could have retained power?

Jack Matlock: Yes, he was perfectly set up to do it. Power in the central government was largely intact, and the opposition was fractured. But after his close friend Anatoly Lukyanov was implemented in the coup, he became somewhat paranoid. He didn’t want to align himself with the communists because he didn’t trust them. But they were the only allies he had. So when he started turning on the Party, they ran into the arms of Zhirinovsky, the only man who was willing to protect them.

CNN: And what about Alexander Rutskoy? Could he have emerged as leader?

Jack Matlock: That is doubtful. Rutskoy misplayed every hand he was dealt, and his recognition of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania won him no friends in Russia. The pro-democracy reformers regarded him with absolute contempt, and there was no way he was going to win them back. It was seen as a cheap ploy to get recognition from the one man whose blessing could have given him some limited claim to the presidency.

CNN: Who was that?

Jack Matlock: My successor, Ambassador Robert Strauss.



AFTER THE COUP; WITH CRISIS EASED, STRAUSS IS RETURNING TO MOSCOW

August 24, 1991
Associated Press



American Ambassador to the Soviet Union Robert Strauss said today that he would return next week to Moscow and present his credentials as originally planned for September.

Mr. Strauss refused to present his credentials to the hard-line coup government after arriving in Moscow on Wednesday and refused to formally take his post.

At a brief news conference, he declined to say who in the new Soviet Government he would be presenting his credentials to in September, but did add that, "It seems to me, really, that the winners are the principles that this country, our country, stands for - the principles of human rights and of freedom and democracy."































































THE END OF THE USSR! GORBACHEV QUITS; UNION SCRAPPED!

Newsweek
Published: August 26, 1991



(MOSCOW) In a scene reminiscent of the resignation of former US President Richard Nixon, Soviet Premiere Mikhail Gorbachev appeared on national television and quit his post moments after the Soviet Parliament voted to hold an impeachment hearing on the Communist Party leader. Mr. Gorbachev found himself in a government that was now dominated by non-communists for the first time in over seventy years, and his impeachment looked to be unavoidable after he refused to renounce the Communist Party and join the surging ranks of the Liberal Democratic Party this weekend. Almost immediately after his resignation, the federal government moved to radically restructure the government, and fill the numerous vacancies in leadership. After voting almost unanimously to whittle down the power of the President, the Soviet parliament named Viktor Alksnis, an ethic Latvian, as new President of the Soviet Union. The move was seen as an attempt to appease both the breakaway Baltic republics and some of the hardliners who are still concerned about the promises made by LPD leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky to privatize the Communist Party holdings that are now firmly in control of the opposition. In an attempt to balance the leadership of the federal government, reformist Yuri Luzhkov was named Prime Minister, replacing Valentin Pavlov, a hardliner who was arrested for his role in last weeks failed coup. Mr. Gorbachev’s former aid, and one time close friend, Anatoly Lukyanov, retained his position as Chairman of the Soviet Parliament. In a unique form of power sharing, all three now possess nearly equal authority in the federal government. Named to replace former Vice President Gennady Yanayev, who also was arrested for his role in the coup, was another Gorbachev ally who has subsequently joined the LDP; Vladimir Ivashko. Lithuanian Sergey Pirozhkov was named new Soviet of Nationalities chairman, replacing Rafiq Nishonov, while reformist Arkadi Volsky was named Supreme Soviet Chairman, replacing Ivan Laptev who was arrested yesterday.




CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR

August 18, 2000



CNN: Initially it appeared that the makeup of the new Soviet and Russian government was extremely balanced and provided a check on the powers of Vladimir Zhirinovsky. How did he so effectively circumvent that?

Matlock: In two ways. In an attempt to placate both the “reformed” communists and the pro-democratic liberals he created a federal government in which no faction had total control. By placing the extremely conservative Latvian Viktor Alksnis as new President of the Union to replace Gorbachev, it appeared that he was siding with the hardliners. But the powers of the president were seriously limited in the new federal structure, and balanced out with those of the Prime Minister. There he replaced the hardliner Valentin Pavlov with the extremely pro-reformist Yuri Luzhkov. Conservative Lithuanian Sergey Pirozhkov was named Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities, whose power was countered by moderate Yeltsin supporter Arkadi Volsky as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Union. He then placed two former Gorbachev supporters to balance out the fragile coalition, placing Vladimir Ivashko from the Ukraine as Vice President and keeping Anatoly Lukyanov as Chairman of the Soviet Parliament. Everything was perfectly balanced, and the curious thing was with so many non-Russians in the government now, the foreign press mistakenly saw that as a token of goodwill to the other republics.

CNN: So why didn’t it work?

Matlock: Because nobody wanted to work with each other, which made the Soviet federal government hopelessly deadlocked. Zhirinovsky then emerged as the only man who could get the federal government to do anything by using the one weapon at his disposal. And as for the other republics, well, Alksnis may have been an ethnic Latvian, but he was certainly no friend to the Latvian Republic.

CNN: What was the weapon?

Matlock: The Liberal Democratic Party was now in control of almost all of the property of the former Communist Party. And Zhirinovsky was in complete control of the LDP. He could threaten the communist-leaning politicians with privatization, or threaten a Yeltsinite with the opposite. It might not have appeared that he controlled the federal government, but make no mistake, he was in control.



THE END OF THE USSR; NEW SOVIET PARLIAMENT RENAMES COUNTRY UNION OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICS; SICKLE AND HAMMER REPLACED

August 26, 1991
By Bill England
Moscow Bureau of The Denver Post



MOSCOW – In one of the first acts of the first post-communist Soviet government in over seventy years, the parliament voted nearly unanimously to rename the country. Abandoning the ‘Soviet’ title and replacing ‘socialist’ with ‘democratic’, the newly named Union of Democratic Republics recognized its greatest challenge now is to somehow to keep the fractured Union together. In the Baltic republics, supporters of the Liberal Democratic Party and local authorities clashed over who retained control of former Communist Party property. Pro-independence protesters seized the Communist Party headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia today, driving out the small contingent of LDP loyalist who had initially taken control of the facility. After naming a new government that is headed by three Russians and three non-Russians, newly appointed UDR president Viktor Alksnis called on the breakaway republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to “come to the table” and discuss a workable union treaty that all can live with. However, many of the protesters are adamant that they want no part of what they see as a “Greater Russia in the making”.

In Moscow and across the Russian republic, the sickle and hammer was taken down for the last time and replaced with the new flag of the UDR, a yellow, black and white tri-color flag that many protesters in the breakaway republics see as a symbol of Russian expansion. The Russian Parliament, which also radically restructured its government structure, also replaced the Soviet Russian Republic flag with the historic white, blue and red tri-color of the pre-communist Russian Republic.



Zhirinovsky named president of Russian Democratic Republic

Newsweek
Published: August 26, 1991



(MOSCOW) Vladimir Zhirinovsky was sworn in today as President of Russia after the Russian parliament voted unanimously not to swear in Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and to have him impeached. Rutskoy, who failed to establish himself as a viable alternative to the untested Zhirinovsky, struggled to win over hard-line former communists and pro-Yeltsin reformists. Both groups shunned his overtures and voted overwhelmingly to replace him. Prime Minister Ivan Silayev, an independent, retained his position despite his refusal to join the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. However, many of his fellow reformists such as Secretary of State Gennady Burbulis have joined the now dominant LDP. Businessman Andrei Zavidiya, who was Zhirinovsky’s running mate in the presidential elections earlier this year, was named Vice President.



OPPOSITION LEADER MIKHAIL ARUTYUNOV CONDEMNS NEW SOVIET GOVERNMENT, FORMS OPPOSITION PARTY

USA TODAY
Published: August 26, 1991



Popular lawmaker Mikhail Arutyunov, who electrified protesters during the failed hard line coup last week, condemned the new Soviet and Russian governments and announced that he would form an opposition party to challenge the now dominant Liberal Democratic Party of the Union of Democratic Republics. Arutyunov’s new party, the Party for a Free and Democratic Russia, has succeeded in wooing several dozen former Yeltsin aids, and is seen as particularly strong with many of the younger Russians who opposed the coup.

“Anyone who heard the garbage that came out of Zhirinovsky’s mouth when he ran for president knows he’s not a democrat,” Arutyunov said, “and selecting Alksnis as president of the Soviet Union shows that he is not committed to reform.”

Arutyunov pointed to Alksnis’ membership in the ultra-conservative Soyuz block, a group of deputies under the old regime committed to opposing any sort of reform, as proof that he was ill-qualified to run the country.

“Soyuz opposed glasnost as being too radical,” Arutyunov said, “now we are to believe they will implement true reforms? It is clear that Mr. Zhirinovsky is not interested in changing anything.”

However, the Russian president shot back with a harsh reply.

“If he means I want to see a united country that is not torn apart, then yes, I am a hardliner,” Zhirinovsky said when told of Arutyunov’s statement.

Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev has yet to announce which, if any party he plans on supporting.


“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”


Published by Interbook, © 1998


CHAPTER THIRTEEN

My decision to join the Liberal Democratic Party was a difficult one as I was still emotional. I was so frustrated with Mikhail Arutyunov that I knew I couldn’t support his Party. And as much as I wanted to entertain another moderate alternative to both Arutyunov’s party and the LDP, I also recognized that there needed to be reformers in the new LDP. Zhirinovsky’s olive branch created a flood; communist, liberals, everyone. All were rushing to join the Party once they realized it would be in charge. If I didn’t join, if I helped create a third alternative, then I feared all I would be doing is weakening my cause. I feared it would lead to the LDP being controlled by the communists. So I called Zhirinovsky and he gladly accepted me. He even asked if I was interested in remaining Secretary of State of Russia or if I wanted more. I told him I wasn’t joining him for political gain, I was doing it for my country, and that all I wanted was for him to be willing to listen to the reformers. He assured me he would, and that he had an exciting plan for privatization that he had been considering for some time. I didn’t ask him details at the time, if I had, if I knew about his Palestine Plan I would have run. I would have swallowed my pride and called Arutyunov immediately. But I was just glad to hear that he was planning to implement many of the reforms that Yeltsin and Prime Minister Ivan Silayev had been considering. When he asked that I remain Secretary of State I felt relieved. Not because I wanted power, but I realized that he didn’t want to shun us out of the new government. It was the end of an era in Russia, and the birth of a new country. I wanted to be part of it.

….


When he introduced me to Andrei Zavidiya, many of my fears began to ease. Zavidiya was considerably less boisterous than Zhirinovsky, and he seemed to carry a great deal of sway with him. I got the sense that this would be a President who listened to those people around him. How wrong I would end up being.

….

After President Zhirinovsky was sworn in, we held a joint Russian and Federal cabinet meeting. Almost immediately I saw how broken the new federal structure was. Nothing was getting accomplished; Alksnis and Luzhkov were bickering like old women! And Lukyanov looked like a puppy that had just been rescued from the street. He just kept looking at Zhirinovsky, thankful that he gave him this second chance and afraid to displease his new master. I immediately interjected to discuss the economic reforms that I, and the other liberals, felt were most pressing. Zhirinovsky just sat there, listening to all of us. Finally Russian Prime Minister Ivan Silayev asked Zhirinovsky what he thought. That was what he was waiting for! He knew that as long as he didn’t interject he could create an image that he was the final authority! By waiting for all of us to become exhausted he created the image that he was the final authority on all decisions.

“I agree with you Mr. Silayev, we do need reforms,” Mr. Zhirinovsky said as he stood up, “but we have a more pressing matter that needs our attention right now. A snake is choking this new Russian nation, and we must act now to stop it before it is too late.”

“What sort of snake?” I asked.

“A snake called Greater Turkestan.”
































































































Russian President becomes first to attend Sunday mass in over 70 years

USA TODAY
Published: September 1, 1991



In a stunning sign of the radical changes sweeping through the former Soviet Union, Russian President Vladimir Zhirinovsky became the first Russian leader since the 1917 Revolution to attend church services.


Sitting prominently in the front row at St. Basil’s Cathedral, Zhirinovsky’s presence electrified the nation.


Zhirinovsky described himself as a “practicing orthodox” after the service before adding that he “recognized the important and special relationship that the Russian people and the Orthodox Church shared.” He then called on Russians to reestablish ties to their “Christian roots.”




Partial transcript of comments from the
September 02, 1991 telecast of The 700 Club




JERRY FALWELL: And I agree totally with you that the Lord has never abandoned the prayers of the Russian people and those brothers in Christ who, for nearly eighty years prayed for this day to come. Calling on the Lord to give them a brave, honest Russian leader, who was courageous enough to stand forward and proclaim his faith in Christ and to call on other Russians to do the same.

PAT ROBERTSON: Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the start of a new era of cooperation between America and the former Soviet Union-

JERRY FALWELL: The Democratic Union-

PAT ROBERTSON: Yes Jerry. For so long the Christian was in fear of persecution in Russia. But then to see that image of President Zhirinovsky kissing the cross and calling on his fellow Russian to embrace their “Christian roots” was a wonderful, wonderful moment.

JERRY FALWELL: I truly believe that this is one of the greatest days in my life; I am so blessed to have been alive to see this happen.




Russian Secretary of State downplays “disturbing” statements made by Russian president at St. Basil’s Cathedral

Haaretz Israeli News
Published: September 02, 1991



(HELSINKI) The Israeli embassy in Finland condemned what it referred to as “disturbing” comments made by president Vladimir Zhirinovsky at a church service at St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow yesterday.

“We are deeply troubled by the statements made by President Zhirinovsky,” the Israeli embassy said in a press release, “and call on the Russian government to condemn these disturbing statements made by the President. We also call on the Russian government to refrain from statements that can be interpreted as hateful or discriminatory by more radical elements of society.”

Russian Secretary of State Gennady Burbulis attempted to defuse the situation, downplaying the incident as the result of “an overenthusiastic President whose statements were misinterpreted and incorrectly translated by the foreign press.”

“President Zhirinovsky is a friend to the Israeli people,” Burbulis added, “and is eager to reestablish diplomatic relations with Israel.”

The Israeli embassy in Moscow has been closed since 1967, shortly after the 6-Day war between Israel and her Arab neighbors.

Zhirinovsky created a firestorm in one of his first speeches as president shortly after the Sunday mass when he called on Russians to reestablish ties to their “Christian roots”. He then added that “as Christians, our true enemy is not the Russian who is a communist, or the Russian who is a democrat. Our true enemy is the Zionist who seeks to destroy our nation and give it to his Turkish dog.”



“My Russia- An Autobiography by former Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis”


Published by Interbook, © 1998



CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Listening to Zhirinovsky give his bizarre “Greater Turkestan” speech I secretly thought that perhaps I should speak up. But I could see in the eyes of my comrades, both conservative and reformist, that they all were thinking the same thing. Can he be serious? This is madness! Just moments ago we were unable to agree on anything, but now we had something we could agree upon.

“I have received clear and convincing evidence that the Turks, along side NATO and their Zionist overlords, have plans to finally accomplish their long sought after dream of a “Greater Turkestan,” Zhirinovsky said as he displayed a map that featured a fictional account of what he perceived as the borders of this new Turkish empire, “if we do not act now, this Turkish empire will run from Istanbul, through Crimea, all the way to the Kamchatka peninsula.”

I sat speechless as Zhirinovsky spoke, looking over at Federal Union president Viktor Alksnis. I was somewhat comforted by the appalled look on his face. He couldn’t hide his disdain for the idiocy he was being presented with as he sat there incredulous with his mouth wide open.

“This seems highly suspect,” Alksnis said dismissively, “what evidence is there that Turkey is planning to invade the Soviet Union-

“The Democratic Union,” Zhirinovsky said curtly.

“-Of course. What sort of evidence do you have that Turkey would dare invade us.”

“I have received reports that there has been a great deal of NATO military activity on the Georgian border,” Zhirinovsky replied, “and I feel that if we do not act soon, NATO can and will expand into Azerbaijan and from there create a Turkish Union with the Central Asian Republics. If we don’t act now, we will end up fighting a world wide nuclear war with NATO to keep our country from being overrun by the barbarians.”

“This country nearly descended into civil war last week,” Vice President Vladimir Ivashko countered, “increased military action from NATO hardly seems unusual considering the circumstances.”

Zhirinovsky dismissively waved his hand at Ivashko while reminding everyone that he was somehow keenly aware of the unique threat faced by the Turks because he was born in the Kazakh Republic and he once studied in Turkey for a few months as a youth. I wanted to remind him that his negative experience by being unceremoniously thrown out of the country might be clouding his vision, but I bit my tongue.

“So how do you propose we stop them,” Yuri Luzhkov said sarcastically.

“There is one thing that stands in their way, one thing that prevents them from achieving their dream of Turkish domination. A finger in the dam, if you will. A finger that holds back this Turkish onslaught. It is all that protects us from the coming flood of Islamic domination.”

“And what might that be,” Luzhkov retorted.

“Armenia.”




Excerpts from the book: “Enemy of my Enemy: The unlikely alliance of Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Monte Melkonian” by Mary Kerr.


Published by University of California Press, © 2006.




Chapter II: “Operation Ring revisited”

What became abundantly clear during that first cabinet meeting was that President Zhirinovsky had a radically different approach to his predecessor in dealing with the growing lawlessness and violence in the Caucasus.

“Under President Gorbachev, the Soviet government was clearly siding with Azerbaijan in regards to its growing conflict with its neighbor Armenia and the breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh,” commented former Soviet Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov. “In fact, the Soviet government had just completed ‘Operation Ring’ in May of 1991.”

Operation Ring was the code name for a series of military operations conducted by Soviet Internal Security Forces and OMON units of the USSR. Taking place in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the operation was an attempt to disarm the growing Armenian militias that were harassing both the Soviet and Azerbaijani government officials. The operation failed to curb the violence and by most accounts exasperated tensions between Armenians and the Soviet government.

“Most Soviet officials considered the Armenians to be troublesome,” commented Anatoly Lukyanov, a former Soviet Parliamentary chairman under Gorbachev, “they were the most irascible republic, always causing the central government headaches.”

Many other Soviet officials pointed to the declaration of sovereignty from Armenia in August of 1990 as one of the major reasons that the Soviet government was so determined to crush Armenian resistance in Nagorno-Karabakh. Citing concerns about security, the Soviet government did attempt to assist Azerbaijan in quelling the growing restlessness, often with tragic results. The incident which would become known as “Black January” in 1990, where Armenians in Baku were victimized by a pogrom at the hands of local Azerbaijanis (while Soviet troops looked on) became a constant sore spot between Armenia and the federal government. Even under Zhirinovsky, the memory of Black January proved problematic for both Republics. Also present was the fear that by allowing Armenia to break away, and allowing another “Oblast” to split off, it would so badly destroy the myth of Soviet hegemony (and perhaps inspire other regions such as Chechnya and Dagestan to follow suit) that it would prove to be a fatal blow to the nation.

With the ascension of Vladimir Zhirinovsky in Russia, the initial reaction in Armenia was one of deep concern. Mr. Zhirinovsky was regarded as a man with deep racial prejudices by many Armenians, and in August of 1991 Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia (and future President of Armenia) Levon Ter-Petrosyan, initially called Mr. Zhirinovsky “a dangerous enemy to all ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union.” However, Zhirinovsky would soon win over a small, but powerful faction within the Armenian nation: the Arsakhis.


Armenians continue to clash over the future of Zhirinovsky statue in Kapan


Toronto Globe and Mail
Published: January 13, 2012



(SYUNIK PROVINCE, ARMENIA) - For the fifth straight day protesters in the small city of Kapan clashed over the planned demolition of a statue of former Russian president Vladimir Zhirinovsky near Tumanyan Street in the southwest region of the city.

“Zhirinovsky is a monster and a genocidal maniac,” yelled one anti-Zhirinovsky protester, “and this statue is an insult to our nation!”

The Kapan city council voted nearly unanimously to remove the statue, citing Mr. Zhirinovsky’s role in what the UN has recognized as genocide in Chechnya, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan.

“The Armenian people have a special obligation, due to our history, not to turn a blind eye to genocide, or to excuse those who would perpetrate it” the city council said in a joint statement. “We cannot in good conscience continue to disregard not only the suffering of the Bosnian, Kazak, Afghan, and Chechen people but also the memory of our forefathers who suffered tremendously under the orders of men just like Vladimir Zhirinovsky.”

However, nearly three hundred protesters have come in from the eastern provinces of the Republic of Armenia y Artsakh to oppose the demolition of the statute.

“All across our country, from the Kura River in the east to Yerevan in the west, this is all that we have left to commemorate the man who helped unify our country,” yelled one protester from Bardha’a, “without him over half our country would still be occupied by the Azeris!”

Vladimir Zhirinovsky role in assisting the Armenian Sovereign Republic during the Nagorno-Karabakh War from 1988-1991 remains a subject of controversy in much of the country, with many Armenians embarrassed at the partnership that their government made with the noted war criminal. For many Armenians seeking to establish ties with the international community after unilaterally leaving the Union of Independent States in 2005, Zhirinovsky is seen as an obstacle to integration.

“We need to stop remaining silent,” commented a student in Yerevan, “we know what he did in Nagorno-Karabakh was evil. But we are all so afraid of offending the small number of fanatics in Artsakh that we won’t say what the international community already knows: that the man is a war criminal.”

In a recent poll, over 53% of Armenians feel that Vladimir Zhirinovsky is a war criminal and nearly 65% feel that the statue should be torn down. The poll also found that nearly 70% of Armenians felt that Zhirinovsky was “racist against Armenians”. Even in the Eastern Republic of Artsakh, in what use to be Nagorno-Karabakh and western Azerbaijan, support for the statue is under 50% and over 65% of those polled felt that Zhirinovsky was “racist against Armenians”.

“I don’t deny that he dislikes Armenians,” commented a protester at Kapan, “but what was important was that he hated Azeris.”


CNN interview with Jack Matlock, former ambassador to the USSR


August 18, 2000


CNN: What was Zhirinovsky’s actual role in the conflict between Armenian separatists in the self proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Azerbaijan?

Matlock: He was the single most important factor in that war ending the way it did. By completely doing a 180-degree with the federal government he changed the entire dynamic of the Caucasus overnight. Now you had a staunch, pro-Armenian federal government that was determined to crush what was up until that point a close ally inside the Union.

CNN: Why did he support the Armenians?

Matlock: It’s hard to say. Many observers felt that General Viktor Dubynin, who had just been appointed Chief of the General Staff of the UDR, was the one who recognized that the Operation Ring was a colossal failure and that the Armenians were strengthened by the failed operation in 1990. They felt that he saw an opportunity for the government to switch to a winning side without losing face. Also, it did tell a powerful message to the other republics: get with the program and you will be rewarded. Resist us and we will not only destroy your country, but we will redraw your borders in a way that even your worst enemy wouldn’t have dreamed of. When the Russian military and the Armenian militias launched joint operations on October 17, 1991, the day before Azerbaijan was set to adopt a declaration of independence; it clearly frightened the other republics into submission.


CNN: Did the war restore the prestige of the Russian military in a sense?

Matlock: It depends on what you mean by ‘prestige’. If you mean it created fear, then absolutely. To completely level Baku and crush Azeri resistance in thirteen days was clearly unexpected. But much of the success of the operation had to be given to the Armenians. They were surprisingly better armed and equipped than even their Russian allies expected. They received a lot of weapons and money from the Armenian diaspora community overseas, and actually had more experience than even their Russian counterparts. Also they were clearly motivated.

CNN: But the question remains, how did Zhirinovsky so successfully convince the Armenians to abandon independence and form what would become the foundation of the UIS?

Matlock: There were a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, or what we now refer to as the Artsakh region of the Republic of Armenia. President Levon Ter-Petrosyan knew that independence in 1991 would mean entering the international community without Nagorno-Karabakh. And he knew once that happened, well the international community would never recognize a change in borders between two independent countries. The only way he could get Nagorno-Karabakh was to wait it out, and let the UDR redraw the border internally. Clearly it backfired on them in the sense that they are still looking to break free from Zhirinovsky and the UIS, but at the time it seemed perfectly reasonable.

CNN: So why did General Dubynin and President Zhirinovsky go overboard in regards to the new border? Why did they give them so much more than just Nagorno-Karabakh?

Matlock: I honestly believe Dubynin had nothing to do with that. Zhirinovsky did hold the insane idea that the Republic of Turkey was seeking to create a “Greater Turkistan”. He also saw the tiny, 16-mile wide Syunik province in southern Armenia as the “finger in the dam” as he once famously called it. He wanted to create as much distance between Turkey and Azerbaijan as possible because he honestly believed that otherwise the Turks would annex the Nakhchivan exclave and then invade Armenia and create this “Greater Turkestan.”