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State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP). GKChP (state emergency committee)

After the “putsch,” the career of the GKAC members was put to an end. Their active social and political life ended there. , and member of the State Emergency Committee Vasily Starodubtsev, at that time - chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR. After the failure of the “putsch” and arrest, he was officially charged under Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (“Treason to the Motherland”). During investigative activities Starodubtsev was in the “Matrosskaya Tishina” pre-trial detention center in Moscow. In June 1992, he was released from custody for health reasons on his own recognizance. After this, Starodubtsev returned to work in the agricultural industry - in the Agrarian Union of Russia, and for some time led the Peasant Union of the CIS. In 1993-1995 was a member of the Federation Council from the Tula region, in 1997 he became the governor of the Tula region and remained in this post until the end of his second term in 2005. In 2007 Starodubtsev elected as a deputy State Duma RF from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. He still works in the Duma to this day. As part of our front project, we offer an exclusive interview Vasily Alexandrovich, in which he talks about the events of August 1991 .

Gennady Yanaev (bbc.co.uk)

As for the other key figures among the organizers of the “putsch,” their fates were mostly unenviable. The formal head of the State Emergency Committee (in fact, the chairman of the State Emergency Committee was never elected) Gennady Yanaev On September 4, 1991, he was relieved of his duties as vice-president of the USSR by the extraordinary V Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and placed in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison. He was released in accordance with the amnesty resolution adopted by the State Duma on February 23, 1994. After release Yanaev worked as a consultant to the Committee of Veterans and Disabled Persons civil service, was also the head of the Fund for Assistance to Disabled Children (the Fund is part of the non-governmental organization “Spiritual and Educational Complex of Traditional Religions in Moscow”). IN recent years served as head of the department national history and international relations of the Russian International Academy of Tourism. September 24, 2010 Yanaev died of lung cancer.

Valentin Pavlov (sergeywaz.ucoz.ru)

The main economic ideologist of the State Emergency Committee is considered to be Valentin Pavlov, the then Prime Minister of the USSR, the very next day after the announcement of the creation of the State Emergency Committee, was hospitalized with a diagnosis of " hypertensive crisis”(his ill-wishers claimed that it was a binge). On August 22, by decree of those who returned from Foros Gorbachev he was dismissed from the post of head of government, security was assigned to him at the hospital, and on August 29, the now former prime minister was transferred to Matrosskaya Tishina. In 1994, he was amnestied along with other participants of the State Emergency Committee. Soon after his release, he became president of Chasprombank, left this post on August 31, 1995, and on February 13, 1996, the bank’s license was revoked. In 1996-1997 Pavlov held the position of adviser at Promstroybank, then was an employee of a number of economic institutions, deputy chairman of Volny economic society(VEO). In August 2002, Valentin Pavlov suffered a heart attack. In January, he returned to work and discussed with the then leader of the Agrarian Party of Russia, Mikhail Lapshin, the possibility of nominating himself as a candidate from the APR in the State Duma elections in December 2003. But on March 12, 2003, Pavlov suffered a massive stroke and died on March 30.

Vladimir Kryuchkov (newsru.com)

“The Gray Cardinal” of the State Emergency Committee, as many call him, the then chairman of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Kryuchkov was arrested on the evening of August 21, 1991. He was charged with a crime under Article 64 of the Criminal Code “Treason to the Motherland.” While under arrest, on July 3, 1992, Kryuchkov made an appeal to Yeltsin, in which, in particular, he accused him of shifting the blame for the collapse of the USSR onto members of the State Emergency Committee. After the 1994 amnesty Kryuchkov was studying social activities, was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in Support of the Army. He died on November 23, 2007 in Moscow at the age of 84 after a long illness.

Boris Pugo (megabook.ru)

The most tragic figure among the GKAC members is considered to be the then Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Boris Pugo. August 22, 1991 for arrest Pugo Chairman of the KGB of the RSFSR Viktor Ivanenko, First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Viktor Erin, Deputy Prosecutor left Lisin, as well as Gregory Yavlinsky(it is not clear, however, in what capacity. Since the fall of 1990, Yavlinsky headed the Center for Economic and Political Research "EPIcenter", which, together with scientists from Harvard University, with the political support of Gorbachev, developed a program for the integration of the Soviet economy into the world economic system. The program was ultimately not implemented . - Ed.). Two days later, Yavlinsky, in an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, told how they, without waiting for the capture group, “began to act.” According to him, the door was opened for them by Father-in-law Pugo, himself Pugo and his wife were still alive: “His head fell back on the pillow and he was breathing; (wife) looked insane. All her movements were absolutely uncoordinated, her speech was incoherent.” Yavlinsky especially emphasized that two circumstances seemed strange to him: 1) the pistol lay neatly on the nightstand, where to put it yourself Pugo it was difficult; 2) he saw three spent cartridges. The Moskovsky Komsomolets journalist adds at the end of the article: “A few hours after my conversation with Grigory Yavlinsky arrived new information. As a result of the investigation, it became known that the wife was the last to shoot. She put the gun on the nightstand.” However, son Pugo Vadim, according to a publication in the Den newspaper in 1993, said that his 90-year-old father-in-law put the gun on the nightstand: “They apparently lay down on the bed. The father put the gun to the mother's temple and fired, then shot himself, and the gun remained clutched in his hand. The grandfather heard the shot, although he has difficulty hearing, and went into the bedroom... The mother did not die: she rolled out of the bed and even tried to climb onto it. Grandfather took the gun from his father and put it on the nightstand. And I didn’t tell anyone about it for a month - I was afraid. It was unclear to him: to speak - not to speak. And he said about the pistol a month later, when the interrogations began...” The minister's wife, Valentina Ivanovna Pugo, candidate of technical sciences, associate professor at the Moscow Energy Institute, died in the hospital a day later, without regaining consciousness.

Dmitry Yazov (sgoroscop.ru)

Another security official among the members of the State Emergency Committee, the Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Yazov already on the morning of August 21, he gave the order for the withdrawal of all troops from Moscow, after which he went to Foros to see Gorbachev, but was not accepted. Immediately upon returning to Moscow Yazov was arrested at the airport. According to Vlast magazine, from prison Yazov “appealed to the president Yeltsin with a videotaped message in which he repented and called himself an “old fool.” Myself Yazov he refuted this: “There was no such letter! This is all a falsification by a journalist who, with the permission of the investigator, was allowed into my cell at Matrosskaya Tishina. And after our conversation in one of German magazines This fake appeared with words attributed to me.” After the amnesty, he was dismissed by decree of President Boris Yeltsin, however, was awarded a personalized pistol. Retained the rank of Marshal Soviet Union. After his resignation, for some time he held the positions of chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and chief adviser and consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff. After the re-establishment of the Service of Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2011, Dmitry Yazov- Lead Analyst (Inspector General) of the Department of Defense Inspector General Service Russian Federation.

Member of the State Emergency Committee Oleg Baklanov(at the time of August 1991 - Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council under the President of the USSR) after the failure of the “putsch” he was arrested, kept in the “Matrosskaya Tishina” pre-trial detention center, and in 1992 was released under an amnesty. Currently, according to media reports, he works in the mechanical engineering sector.

Finally, another of the eight members of the State Emergency Committee Alexander Tizyakov ( at that moment - President of the Association of State Enterprises and Facilities of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR) was amnestied in 1994. IN lately, according to media reports, is engaged in business and is a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

TASS DOSSIER. On August 19-22, 1991, 25 years ago, there was an attempted coup in the Soviet Union, organized by members of the State Committee for state of emergency(GKChP) in the USSR.

The editors of TASS-DOSSIER prepared a certificate about how the fate of the participants of the State Emergency Committee turned out after August 1991.

Members of the Emergency Committee

The State Emergency Committee consisted of eight people. The head of the committee was Vice-President of the USSR Gennady Yanaev, who assumed the powers of the President of the Soviet Union on August 19, 1991. Also members of the State Emergency Committee were the Prime Minister of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, the Ministers of Defense and Internal Affairs of the USSR Dmitry Yazov and Boris Pugo, Chairman of the Union Committee state security(KGB) Vladimir Kryuchkov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council Oleg Baklanov, Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR Vasily Starodubtsev, President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR Alexander Tizyakov.

Arrests of members of the State Emergency Committee

On August 21, 1991, the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Valentin Stepankov authorized the arrest of all members of the State Emergency Committee. On August 22, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to take into custody Baklanov and Starodubtsev, who were people's deputies of the Soviet Union.

On the same day, Yanaev, Kryuchkov, Yazov and Tizyakov were arrested. Pugo committed suicide. On August 23, the remaining members of the State Emergency Committee - Pavlov, Baklanov and Starodubtsev - were detained. All of them were placed in the “Matrosskaya Tishina” pre-trial detention center (SIZO) in Moscow. Members of the state committee were charged under paragraph "a" of Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR ("Treason to the Motherland with the aim of seizing power").

Release from arrest

On June 6, 1992, Starodubtsev was released from the pre-trial detention center for health reasons. On January 26, 1993, the members of the State Emergency Committee who remained in custody were released on their own recognizance. On February 23, 1994, all of them were amnestied by the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the first convocation. On May 6, 1994, on the basis of the parliamentary resolution “On declaring a political and economic amnesty,” the criminal case against members of the State Emergency Committee was terminated.

Gennady Yanaev

On September 4, 1991, he was removed from the post of Vice President of the USSR at the V Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. After his release from the pre-trial detention center, he took part in congresses and public events of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. He was a consultant to the Committee of Veterans and Disabled Persons of the State Service "Motherland and Honor", and also headed the Fund for Assistance to Children with Disabilities from Childhood.

In 2002-2010 held the position of head of the department of national history and international relations of the Russian International Academy of Tourism. He died on September 24, 2010 in Moscow after a long illness, and was buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in the capital.

Valentin Pavlov

He was dismissed from the post of Prime Minister of the USSR by decree of Mikhail Gorbachev on August 22, 1991 (this decision was approved by the Supreme Council of the USSR on August 28). In 1993, while in the “Matrosskaya Tishina” detention center, he wrote the book “August from the Inside: Gorbachev’s Putsch.”

In 1994 he headed his own consulting company "Doverie". In 1994-1995 served as president of Chasprombank in 1996-1997. was the chief financial adviser to the president of Promstroibank Yakov Dubenetsky.

Since 1998, he worked as vice president of the American company Business Management Systems (specializing in the field of computer technology). At the end of the 1990s. was vice-president of the Free Economic Society of Russia, headed the Institute for Research and Promotion of Development of Regions and Industries at the International Union of Economists, was vice-president of the International Academy of Management and chairman of its academic council.

In 2002 he suffered a heart attack. He died on March 30, 2003 after a massive stroke, and was buried in Moscow at the Pyatnitskoye cemetery.

Dmitry Yazov

On August 22, 1991, by decree of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of his post as Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union (August 28, the decision was approved by the Supreme Council of the USSR). For a year and a half he did not receive a pension (issued in 1993), his son was expelled from the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On February 7, 1994, by decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Yazov was dismissed from military service.

Since 1998, he held the position of chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and was also the chief advisor and consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In 1999, he wrote his memoirs, “Strikes of Fate: Memoirs of a Soldier and a Marshal.” After the re-establishment of the Service of Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in 2008, he was its leading analyst (inspector general). He also headed the Officers' Brotherhood fund of the National Association of Reserve Officers' Associations of the Armed Forces (created in September 2001), and the public organization Committee in Memory of Marshal Zhukov.

Lives in Moscow.

Vladimir Kryuchkov

On August 22, 1991, by decree of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, he was relieved of his post as Chairman of the KGB of the USSR. On October 4, 1994, he was retired from the state security agencies. Since the mid-1990s. - member of the board of directors joint stock company(JSC) "Region", part of Vladimir Evtushenkov's holding AFK "Sistema".

According to media reports, the company was an information and analytical center within the holding. Also in the 1990-2000s. was an advisor to the “Experimental Creative Center” of the Russian political scientist Sergei Kurginyan.

In 1996, he wrote a two-volume memoir, “Personal Affair.” Since 1997, he was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in support of the army, defense industry and military science, created by Lieutenant General, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the second convocation Lev Rokhlin. The media also reported that in 1998-1999. Kryuchkov was an adviser to the director of the Russian FSB, Vladimir Putin, but this information has not been officially confirmed. On May 7, 2000, he was invited to the inauguration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Oleg Baklanov

Since 1994, he was a member of the governing bodies of the Russian All-People's Union party of Sergei Baburin. In 2004-2007, when Baburin was deputy speaker of the Duma, Baklanov served as his adviser. Also worked as an advisor to the president of the joint stock company commercial bank"World". In 2006, he owned 34% of the shares of the limited liability company Zenit DB (wholesale trade). According to media reports, at the turn of the 2000-2010s. was Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Rosobschemash Corporation (rocket science).

He headed the regional public organization "Society of Friendship and Cooperation of the Peoples of Russia and Ukraine." In 2004, during the presidential elections in Ukraine, he spoke in support of Viktor Yanukovych. Currently - Chairman of the Board of the International Union public associations friendship and cooperation with the CIS countries" Kievan Rus". Lives in Moscow. In 2012, he published a book of memoirs and diaries, “Space is my destiny. Notes from "Sailor's Silence".

Vasily Starodubtsev

After his release from the pre-trial detention center, he returned to work as chairman of the Novomoskovskoye agro-industrial complex and the collective farm named after. V.I. Lenin (Tula region), which he led before his arrest. In February 1993, he became a co-founder of the Agrarian Party of Russia, and later served on its governing bodies. On December 12, 1993, he was elected as a deputy of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation of the first convocation (acted until 1995), and was a member of the committee on agrarian policy. Since June 1994, by government order, included in the board of the Ministry agriculture and food of the Russian Federation.

On January 22, 1995 he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. On March 23, 1997, he was elected governor of the Tula region. (62.82% of votes), re-elected in 2001. He held this post until April 29, 2005. In December 1995, in the elections to the State Duma he was in the top three of the federal list of the Agrarian Party of Russia, did not get into the Duma (the party did not overcome 5 percent barrier). In 2007-2011 - deputy of the State Duma of the fifth convocation. He was elected on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation from the Tula region, was a member of the faction of the same name, and was a member of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Issues.

IN different times also headed public organizations agricultural producers: Agrarian and Agro-Industrial Union of Russia, Peasant Union of the CIS. On December 4, 2011, he was again elected to parliament on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. On December 30 of the same year he died suddenly in Novomoskovsk. He was buried in the village of Spasskoye, Novomoskovsk district, Tula region.

Alexander Tizyakov

In December 1995, in the elections to the State Duma of the second convocation, he nominated himself as a candidate from the Union of Patriots electoral bloc (which included the Russian National Council of Alexander Sterligov and the All-Russian Officers' Assembly of Vladislav Achalov). The bloc did not overcome the 5 percent barrier. In 2003, he ran for parliament from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and took 14th place in the Ural regional group. He did not pass during the distribution of deputy seats in the Duma.

Also studied entrepreneurial activity. According to SPARK-Interfax, he was a co-founder of a number of companies in the Sverdlovsk region: Antal LLC (wholesale trade of industrial equipment), LLC Insurance company"Northern Treasury", LLC "Vidicon" (production of chipboards), LLC "Fidelity" (production of consumer goods), etc.

Currently, he is a co-owner (45%) of Nauka 93 LLC. Its main activity is “leasing out its own non-residential real estate.” Lives in Yekaterinburg. He is a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, was the chairman of the Yekaterinburg regional social movement"In support of the army and defense power of the Russian Federation."

The events that took place from August to December 1991 in the USSR can safely be called the most important in the entire post-war world history. It was not for nothing that Russian President Vladimir Putin described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. And its course was determined to a certain extent by the coup attempt carried out by the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP). 25 years have passed, new generations have grown up Russian citizens, for whom these events are purely history, and those who lived in those years have probably forgotten a lot. However, the very fact of the destruction of the USSR and the timid attempt to save it still causes lively debate.

The weakening of the USSR: objective and artificial reasons

Centrifugal tendencies in the USSR began to be clearly visible already in the late 80s. Today we can confidently say that they were the consequences of not only internal crisis phenomena. Immediately after the end of World War II, the entire Western world, and primarily the United States of America, set a course for the destruction of the Soviet Union. This was enshrined in a number of directives, circulars and doctrines. Every year, fabulous funds were allocated for these purposes. Since 1985 alone, about $90 billion has been spent on the collapse of the USSR.

In the 1980s, the US authorities and intelligence services were able to form a fairly powerful agency of influence in the Soviet Union, which, although it did not seem to occupy key positions in the country, was capable of having a serious impact on the course of events at the national level. According to numerous evidence, the leadership of the USSR KGB repeatedly reported what was happening to the Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as the US plans to destroy the USSR, take control of its territory and reduce the population to 150-160 million people. However, Gorbachev did not take any actions aimed at blocking the activities of Western supporters and actively opposing Washington.

The Soviet elites were divided into two camps: conservatives, who proposed returning the country to traditional ways, and reformers, whose informal leader was Boris Yeltsin, demanding democratic reforms and greater freedom for the republics.

March 17, 1991 An all-Union referendum on the fate of the Soviet Union took place, in which 79.5% of citizens who had the right to vote took part. Almost 76.5% of them were in favor of preserving the USSR , but with a cunning wording - how "a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics."

On August 20, 1991, the old Union Treaty was supposed to be canceled and a new one was signed, giving the start to a virtually renewed state - the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics (or Union of Sovereign States), of which he planned to become Prime Minister Nursultan Nazarbayev.

It was, in fact, the members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency who opposed these reforms and for preserving the USSR in its traditional form.

According to information actively disseminated by Western and Russian liberal media, KGB officers allegedly overheard a confidential conversation about the creation of the JIT between Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Nazarbayev and decided to act. According to the Western version, they blocked Gorbachev, who did not want to introduce a state of emergency, in Foros (and even planned his physical liquidation), declared a state of emergency, brought army and KGB forces onto the streets of Moscow, and wanted to storm White House, capture or kill Yeltsin and destroy democracy. Arrest warrants were printed en masse in printing houses, and handcuffs were produced in huge quantities in factories.

But this theory has not been objectively confirmed by anything. What really happened?

State Emergency Committee. Chronology of main events

August 17 Some of the heads of law enforcement agencies and executive authorities held a meeting at one of the secret facilities of the USSR KGB in Moscow, during which they discussed the situation in the country.

August 18 Some future members and sympathizers of the State Emergency Committee flew to Crimea to see Gorbachev, who was ill there, to convince him to introduce a state of emergency. According to the version popular in Western and liberal media, Gorbachev refused. However, evidence from participants in the events clearly indicates that Gorbachev, although he did not want to take responsibility for the adoption complex solution, but gave the go-ahead to those who came to him to act at their own discretion, after which he shook their hands.

In the afternoon, according to the well-known version, communications were cut off at the presidential dacha. However, there is information that journalists managed to call there using a regular phone. There is also evidence that government special communications were working at the dacha all the time.

On the evening of August 18, documents on the creation of the State Emergency Committee are being prepared. And at 01:00 on August 19, the Vice-President of the USSR Yanaev signed them, including himself, Pavlov, Kryuchkov, Yazov, Pugo, Baklanov, Tizyakov and Starodubtsev in the committee, after which the State Emergency Committee decided to introduce a state of emergency in certain areas of the Union.

On the morning of August 19th The media announced Gorbachev’s inability to perform duties due to health reasons, the transfer of power to Gennady Yanaev and the creation of the State Emergency Committee for the entire country. In turn, the head of the RSFSR Yeltsin signed a decree “On the illegality of the actions of the State Emergency Committee” and began mobilizing his supporters, including through the radio station “Echo of Moscow”.

In the morning, units of the army, the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs are moving to Moscow, taking protection of a number of important objects. And at lunchtime, crowds of Yeltsin’s supporters begin to gather in the center of the capital. The head of the RSFSR publicly demands to “repel the putschists.” Opponents of the State Emergency Committee begin to build barricades, and a state of emergency is introduced in Moscow.

August 20 A large rally is taking place near the White House. Yeltsin personally addresses its participants. Participants in mass actions are beginning to be frightened by rumors of an impending assault.

Later, Western media would tell heartbreaking stories about how the putschists were going to throw tanks and special forces at the “defenders of democracy,” and the special forces commanders refused to carry out such orders.

Objectively, there is no data on the preparation of the assault. The special forces officers would later deny both the existence of orders to attack the White House and their refusal to carry them out.

In the evening, Yeltsin appoints himself and... O. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on the territory of the RSFSR, and Konstantin Kobets- Minister of Defense. Kobets orders the troops to return to their places of permanent deployment.

In the evening and at night from August 20 to 21 In the capital, there is a movement of troops, local clashes occur between protesters and the military, and three participants in mass actions die.

Command internal troops refuses to move units to the center of Moscow. Armed cadets educational institutions The Ministry of Internal Affairs arrives to protect the White House.

As morning approaches, the troops begin to leave the city. In the evening, Gorbachev already refuses to accept the State Emergency Committee delegation, and Yanaev officially dissolves it. Prosecutor General Stepankov signs a decree on the arrest of committee members.

August 22 Gorbachev returns to Moscow, interrogations of members of the State Emergency Committee begin, and they are relieved of their positions.

August 23“Defenders of Democracy” demolish the monument Dzerzhinsky(reminds me of nothing?), the activities of the Communist Party are prohibited in Russia.

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On August 24, Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the CPSU and proposed that the Central Committee dissolve itself. The process of the collapse of the USSR became irreversible, ending with the well-known events of December 1991.

Life after the USSR. Assessment of the events of 1991

Judging by the results of referendums and elections that took place at the end of 1991 in various parts of the USSR, the majority of the population of the Union then actually supported its collapse.

There is no time on the territory Wars and ethnic cleansing began to break out one after another as a unified state, the economies of most republics collapsed, crime increased catastrophically and the population began to decline rapidly. The “dashing 90s” burst into people’s lives like a whirlwind.

The fate of the republics developed differently. In Russia, the era of the aforementioned “dashing 90s” ended with the coming to power Vladimir Putin, and in Belarus - Alexandra Lukashenko. In Ukraine, the drift towards traditional ties began at the start of the 2000s, but it was interrupted by the Orange Revolution. Georgia was moving away from the general Soviet history jerkily. Kazakhstan emerged from the crisis relatively smoothly and rushed towards Eurasian integration.

Objectively, nowhere in the post-Soviet territory does the population have social guarantees at the level of the USSR. In most of the former Soviet republics, the standard of living did not approach the Soviet one.

Even in Russia, where household incomes have increased significantly, social security problems call into question the thesis of an increase in the standard of living compared to what it was before 1991.

Not to mention the fact that a huge superpower, which shared first place in the world in military, political and economic power only with the United States, which the Russian people for many years was proud.

It is indicative how Russians assess the events of 1991 today, 25 years later. The data from a study conducted by the Levada Center to some extent sums up the numerous disputes about the State Emergency Committee and the actions of Yeltsin’s team.

Thus, only 16% of Russian residents said that they would come out to “defend democracy” - that is, they would support Yeltsin and defend the White House - if they were the participants in the events of 1991! 44% answered categorically that they would not defend the new government. 41% of respondents are not ready to answer this question.

Today, only 8% of Russian residents call the events of August 1991 a victory of the democratic revolution. 30% characterize what happened as a tragic event that had disastrous consequences for the country and people, 35% - simply as an episode in the struggle for power, 27% found it difficult to answer.

Talking about possible consequences after the victory of the Emergency Committee, 16% of respondents said that with this development events Russia would live better today, 19% - that it would live worse, 23% - that it would live the same way as it lives today. 43% could not decide on an answer.

15% of Russians believe that in August 1991 the representatives of the State Emergency Committee were right, 13% - that Yeltsin’s supporters. 39% claim that they did not have time to understand the situation, and 33% do not know what to answer.

40% of respondents said that after the events of August 1991 the country went in the wrong direction, 33% said that it was in the right direction. 28% found it difficult to answer.

It turns out that approximately one third to half of Russians are not sufficiently informed about the events of August 1991 and cannot unambiguously assess them. Among the remaining part of the population, those who evaluate the “August revolution” and the activities of the “defenders of democracy” negatively predominate moderately. The overwhelming majority of Russian residents would not take any action to counter the State Emergency Committee. In general, few people today are happy about the defeat of the committee.

So what really happened in those days and how to evaluate these events?

State Emergency Committee - an attempt to save the country, an anti-democratic putsch or a provocation?

The day before it became known that the CIA predicted the emergence of the State Emergency Committee back in April 1991! An unknown speaker from Moscow informed the leadership of the intelligence service that “supporters of tough measures”, traditionalists, are ready to remove Gorbachev from power and reverse the situation. At the same time, Langley believed that it would be difficult for Soviet conservatives to retain power. A Moscow source listed all the leaders of the future State Emergency Committee and predicted that Gorbachev, in the event of a potential rebellion, would try to maintain control over the country.

It is clear that there is not a word about the US response in the information document. But of course they had to be. When the State Emergency Committee arose, the US leadership harshly condemned it and did everything to achieve similar actions from others Western countries. Position of the heads of the USA, Great Britain and others Western states was voiced by journalists directly in the Vesti program, which, in turn, could not but influence the consciousness of doubting Soviet citizens.

In the entire history of the State Emergency Committee there is a whole series weirdness.

Firstly, The leaders of the powerful security forces of the USSR, undisputed intellectuals and excellent organizers of the old school, for some reason acted spontaneously, uncertainly and even somehow confused. They were never able to decide on a tactic of action. Yanaev’s shaking hands while speaking on camera went down in history.

From which it is logical to assume that the creation of the State Emergency Committee was a completely unprepared step.

Secondly, Yeltsin’s team, which was by no means composed of such experienced and powerful people as their opponents, worked like clockwork. Warning schemes, transport, and communications operated effectively; the defenders of the barricades were well fed and watered; leaflets were printed and distributed in huge quantities; their own media worked.

Everything indicates that Yeltsin was well prepared for such a development of events.

Thirdly, Mikhail Gorbachev, who continued to be the official head of the USSR, fell ill at the right time and left Moscow. Thus, the country was deprived of supreme power, and he himself remained as if he had nothing to do with it.

Fourthly, The President of the USSR did not take any measures to try to stop the leaders of the State Emergency Committee. On the contrary, with his words he gave them complete freedom of action.

Fifthly, Today it is known that back in June 1991, the US authorities discussed the prospect of a putsch in the USSR with Gorbachev and the leadership of the USSR Foreign Ministry. Surely, in two months, the President of the Union, if he wanted, would not have prevented it?

All these strange facts raise questions and doubts about the official interpretation of the victorious side, according to which the State Emergency Committee was an illegal military junta that, without the knowledge of Gorbachev, tried to strangle the sprouts of democracy. Moreover, all of the above suggests the version that Gorbachev and Yeltsin could deliberately provoke their political opponents to take active action at an inconvenient time for them.

On the one hand, the signing of the new Union Treaty was a victory for the reformers. But the victory, to put it mildly, was half-hearted. The traditionalists, who occupied virtually all the key positions in the state, had, if they had been well prepared, all the necessary tools to disrupt the signing of the treaty during the event itself through political means and to launch a political counterattack during the crisis that would inevitably follow the signing itself. In fact, the traditionalists found themselves forced to act without preparation, at an inconvenient time, against opponents who, on the contrary, were well prepared for the fight.

Everything indicates that Gorbachev and Yeltsin could simply have lured the organizers of the State Emergency Committee into a trap, after falling into which they were forced to act according to someone else’s scenario. Everyone who could stop the death of the USSR in 1991 was thrown out of the game overnight.

Some of the members of the State Emergency Committee and people sympathizing with the committee died soon after the coup under mysterious circumstances, committing strange suicides, and the other part was quietly amnestied in 1994, when they no longer posed any threat. The Gakachepists were framed, but when this became clear, it was too late to do anything.

The events of August 1991 fit perfectly into the scheme of color revolutions, with the only difference being that the head of state actually played on the side of the “revolutionaries - defenders of democracy.” Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev could probably tell a lot of interesting things, but he is unlikely to do it. A man whom fate had elevated to the very top of world politics, the head of a superpower, exchanged all this for advertising pizza and bags. And Russian citizens, even 25 years later, understand this perfectly well and evaluate it accordingly.

Those who propose to forget the history of August 1991 as a bad dream are categorically wrong. Then we experienced one of the most tragic events in our history, and it is simply vital to correct mistakes in this regard. Bloody consequences The collapse of the USSR still has to be dealt with - including in Ukraine: people are now being killed in the Donbass largely due to the fact that the State Emergency Committee was unable to stop the local princelings who wanted to tear apart the state for the sake of personal power.

At the same time, supporters of the other extreme, who deny the right to exist of the Russian Federation because of the tragedy of August 1991, are also wrong. Yes, the USSR was destroyed contrary to the will of the people, expressed in the referendum on March 17, but this is not a reason to deny Russia its current statehood - the guarantee of the sovereign existence of the Russian people. On the contrary, everything must be done to develop the Russian Federation as an internationally recognized successor to the USSR. And the ultimate task is to use it to restore the former greatness of our Fatherland.

On August 19, 1991, representatives of the top leadership of the USSR, who opposed the actual liquidation of the Soviet Union as a federal state and its replacement with a confederal “Union of Sovereign States,” attempted to prevent this process by introducing a state of emergency in the country.

USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who actively promoted the SSG project, was isolated at a state dacha in the Crimean Foros (according to other sources, having taken a neutral position, Gorbachev withdrew from the events, awaiting their outcome).

The State Committee for State of Emergency (GKChP) assumed full responsibility for the fate of the country. By decision of the State Emergency Committee, from 4 a.m. on August 19, 1991, a state of emergency was introduced throughout the USSR for a period of six months.

From the State Emergency Committee’s appeal to the Soviet people:

“...The policy of reforms launched on the initiative of M. S. Gorbachev, conceived as a means of ensuring the dynamic development of the country and democratization public life, due to a number of reasons, has reached a dead end. The initial enthusiasm and hopes were replaced by unbelief, apathy and despair. The authorities at all levels have lost the trust of the population. Politics has driven out concern for the fate of the Fatherland and the citizen from public life. Evil mockery of all state institutions is being instilled. The country has essentially become ungovernable..."

The loud statements of the State Emergency Committee, however, did not entail equally decisive actions. The introduction of troops into Moscow was not followed by attempts to disperse rallies of political opponents and suppress the actions of the leadership of the RSFSR led by Boris Yeltsin, who declared the actions of the State Emergency Committee an attempt at a coup.

On the evening of August 21, the State Emergency Committee was dissolved, and its members were arrested within several days. The government, which announced its intention to save the country, never took real action.

Residents of the USSR remembered the events of August 19-21, 1991 most of all for the television broadcast of the Swan Lake ballet. The ballet, which was repeated several times, was replaced by other programs, which political reasons couldn't go on air.

The detained members of the State Emergency Committee were kept in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center, and from June 1992 to January 1993 they were released on their own recognizance. On February 23, 1994, the defendants in the “GKChP case” were amnestied by the State Duma Federal Assembly Russian Federation.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency included 8 people:

    - Vice-President of the USSR, Acting President of the USSR;
  • - First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council;
  • - Chairman of the KGB of the USSR;
  • - Prime Minister of the USSR;
  • - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR;
  • - Chairman of the Peasant Union of the USSR;
  • — President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial, Construction, Transport and Communications Facilities of the USSR;
  • - Minister of Defense of the USSR.

The Vice President of the USSR, who became the formal head of the State Emergency Committee, was poorly suited to the role of leader. The trembling of the hands of a very nervous Yanaev at the press conference of the State Emergency Committee for his political opponents became evidence of the uncertainty of the “junta leader” in his actions. On August 21, Yanaev resignedly signed documents dissolving the State Emergency Committee and canceling all its decisions.

Gennady Yanaev. Photo: RIA Novosti

Journalist Mikhail Leontyev cited Yanaev’s phrase from his conversation during the days of the “putsch” with the head of the KGB Vladimir Kryuchkov: “Understand my character, if even one dies, I won’t be able to live.”

Arrested on August 22, in prison Yanaev gave frank interview journalist Andrey Karaulov, in which he said that the documents of the State Emergency Committee were developed with the knowledge of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, who back in April 1991 ordered security forces begin preparing measures in case of a state of emergency in the country. The interview with Yanaev was not published on the personal orders of the then Head of VGTRK Oleg Poptsov.

In January 1993, Yanaev was released from custody on his own recognizance, and in February 1994, the ex-head of the State Emergency Committee was granted amnesty.

Subsequently, Gennady Yanaev did not take an active part in political life, working as a consultant to the committee of veterans and disabled people in the civil service, and also heading the Foundation for Assistance to Children with Disabilities from Childhood.

In recent years, Yanaev served as head of the department of national history and international relations of the Russian International Academy of Tourism.

Gennady Yanaev died on September 24, 2010 from cancer. He was buried at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in the capital.

Baklanov, who represented the military-industrial complex in the State Emergency Committee, did not play an active role in the events of August 1991, however, he was arrested along with the rest of the “junta members.” Like most other members of the State Emergency Committee, he was in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center until January 1993, after which he was released on his own recognizance. In February 1994, Baklanov was granted amnesty. His arrest affected the career of his son, Baklanov Jr., who worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was forced to resign.

Oleg Baklanov. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty, Baklanov returned to work related to enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Recently, Baklanov served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Rosobschemash.

The head of the KGB of the USSR was one of the “ideological inspirers” and informal leaders of the State Emergency Committee. However, Kryuchkov never gave the order to the KGB units to take active action against Boris Yeltsin and other political opponents. In particular, the Alpha unit, as early as August 19, had the opportunity to arrest Yeltsin before his arrival in Moscow, but Kryuchkov did not do this, fearing “unpredictable consequences.” Arrested on August 22, Kryuchkov remained in custody until January 1993, after which he was released and amnestied in February 1994.

Vladimir Kryuchkov. Photo: RIA Novosti

In subsequent years, Kryuchkov served as the Board of Directors of Region JSC, and was also an advisor Head of the FSB of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The former head of the KGB was a member of the organizing committee of the Movement in Support of the Army, participated in the work of the council of veterans of state security workers, and wrote several memoirs.

He died on November 23, 2007 from a heart attack and was buried with military honors at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in the capital.

The Prime Minister of the USSR was an active supporter of the creation of the State Emergency Committee, but in the August days of 1991 he became one of its most passive participants. Unlike his colleagues, he did not fly to negotiations with Gorbachev in Foros, but was removed from his post and arrested while in the hospital.

Valentin Pavlov. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty in 1994, Pavlov returned to financial activities, heading Chasprombank. Later, the ex-Prime Minister of the Soviet Union worked as an adviser to Promstroybank, was an employee of a number of economic institutions, and deputy chairman of the Free Economic Society.

As one of the most active members of the State Emergency Committee, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Boris Karlovich Pugo, was planned to be arrested first. On August 22, an extremely motley group of comrades, including the Chairman of the KGB of the RSFSR, went to Pugo’s apartment, ahead of the capture group. Victor Ivanenko, 1st Deputy Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and future active participant in the shooting of the White House Victor Erin, Deputy Prosecutor General of the RSFSR Evgeniy Lisina and deputy Grigory Yavlinsky.

Boris Pugo. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Eugene M

What happened at the apartment of the head of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs still remains unclear. According to Yavlinsky, Pugo and his wife were still alive, but were near death. According to the main version, the Pugo couple tried to commit suicide, and the minister first shot his wife and then himself. Pugo died a few minutes later, and his wife died in the hospital a day later without regaining consciousness.

Boris and Valentina Pugo are buried at the Troekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow.

In the August days of 1991, Starodubtsev, who was responsible for the agricultural complex, was preparing the draft Decree “On Saving the Harvest.” Arrested on August 22, Starodubtsev was the first member of the State Emergency Committee to be free - he was released from the pre-trial detention center for health reasons in June 1992.

Starodubtsev returned to work in the Agrarian Union, and in 1993 he became a deputy of the Federation Council.

Vasily Starodubtsev. Photo: RIA Novosti

After the amnesty in 1994, business executive Starodubtsev made the most successful political career among his colleagues in the State Emergency Committee in new Russia, from 1997 to 2005, holding the post of governor of the Tula region.

In 2007 and 2011, Starodubtsev was elected to the Russian State Duma on the lists of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Died on December 30, 2011 from heart attack. He was buried in the rural cemetery of the village of Spasskoye, Novomoskovsk district, Tula region, next to the graves of his wife and son.

Industrialist Alexander Tizyakov as part of the State Emergency Committee was not a random person. In July 1991, he signed what was published in the newspaper “ Soviet Russia» “A Word to the People,” in which politicians and cultural figures spoke out against the actions of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin and for the preservation of the Soviet Union.

However, to active work to save Soviet industry, Tizyakov did not have time to cross during the three days of the State Emergency Committee’s existence.

Alexander Tizyakov. Photo: RIA Novosti

Like other members of the State Emergency Committee, Tizyakov was released from the pre-trial detention center in January 1993 and was amnestied in February 1994.

Subsequently, Tizyakov was a co-founder of AOZT Antal (mechanical engineering) and the insurance company Severnaya Kazna, the founder of Vidikon LLC (production of chipboards) and the Fidelity company (production of consumer goods), headed the board of directors of the investment trust company New Technologies " In addition, Tizyakov was the president of the Russian-Kyrgyz enterprise "Technology", as well as scientific supervisor LLC "Nauka-93"

The USSR Minister of Defense was an extremely unpopular figure among supporters democratic changes and paid them with the same coin. It was Yazov who gave the order to send army units to Moscow. However, the Minister of Defense never gave the command to use force against opponents of the State Emergency Committee.

After his arrest on August 22, Yazov recorded a video message of repentance to USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev. Yazov himself claimed that the initiator of “television repentance” was journalist Vladimir Molchanov, and the ex-minister himself, depressed by the events that had taken place and having not slept at night, succumbed to pressure.

Dmitry Yazov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Barvenkovsky

While under investigation, Yazov continued to be listed on military service, from which he was fired on February 2, 1994, three weeks before his amnesty.

Dmitry Yazov became the last military man to be awarded the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Currently, he is the only living Marshal of the USSR.

After the amnesty, Dmitry Yazov held the positions of chief military adviser to the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and chief adviser and consultant to the head of the Academy of the General Staff.

Currently, the 89-year-old retired Marshal of the USSR is a leading analyst (inspector general) of the service of inspectors general of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.


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

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

Formation of the State Emergency Committee

Preparing to create a committee

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

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

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

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

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

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

Members of the Emergency Committee

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

Political positions of the State Emergency Committee

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

Events of August 19-21, 1991

After the August events

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

"Accomplices" and "sympathizers"

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

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

Trial of the State Emergency Committee

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