PART FOUR - ANARCHY REIGNS
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.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, moments before being shot. AP
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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
Moscow, USSR. August 19, 1991. 1:33 P.M.
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!”
The alleged shooter, pulled from his tank.
Three Days in Moscow by Edward Ellis
(c) 1999 Random House