GKChP 1991 headed. The secrets of the GKChP over the years have acquired a large number of versions

An acute crisis of confidence in the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev, his inability to effectively lead the country and control the socio-political situation also manifested itself in his defeats in the fight against political opponents both from the "right" and "left".

The last attempt to strengthen union power was the coming to power in August 1991 of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP). The GKChP included persons holding the highest government posts in the USSR. The main events began on August 19 and lasted for three days. On the first day, the documents of the leaders of the coup d'état were read out. Vice-President of the USSR G. Yanaev, in a decree issued on his behalf, announced his entry into "the performance of the duties of the President of the USSR" "due to the impossibility for health reasons of Gorbachev's performance of his duties." The "Statement of the Soviet leadership" announced the formation State Committee for the State of Emergency composed of:

O.D. Baklanov, First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council;

V.A. Kryuchkov, chairman of the KGB of the USSR;

V.V. Pavlov, Prime Minister of the USSR;

B.K. Pugo, Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR;

V.A. Starodubtsev, chairman of the Peasants' Union of the USSR;

A.I. Tizyakov, President of the Association of State Enterprises;

D.T. Yazov, Minister of Defense of the USSR;

G.I. Yanaev, Vice President of the USSR.

The GKChP issued an Appeal to the Soviet people, in which it was reported that perestroika started by Gorbachev failed, that, taking advantage of the freedoms granted, extremist forces arose that headed for the liquidation of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost, and therefore the GKChP takes full power into its own hands because of the need to protect the existence of the USSR and its Constitution. On August 19, the USSR State Committee for the State of Emergency adopted Decree No. 1, which suspended the activities of parties, public organizations and mass movements, prohibited rallies, street processions, demonstrations, strikes, and the mass media were to come under the control of the State Committee for the State of Emergency.

August 19 by decision GKChP to Moscow troops were sent. At the same time, the organizers of the coup did not dare to arrest B.N. Yeltsin, as well as other leaders of Russia. The telephones and international communications of the White House were not turned off. At a press conference organized on August 19, the leadership of the GKChP behaved nervously, its leader G. Yanaev's hands were shaking. The leaders of the State Committee for the State of Emergency could not provide a medical certificate on the state of health of M.S. Gorbachev.

The Russian authorities, headed by the President of the RSFSR B.N., stood up to fight the GKChP. Yeltsin. In the Decree of the President of the RSFSR of August 19, 1991, the actions of the GKChP were declared illegal: “all decisions made by the so-called GKChP are considered illegal and invalid on the territory of the RSFSR” and it was said that all bodies of executive power of the USSR were directly subordinated to the President of Russia. B.N. Yeltsin also made an appeal "To the citizens of Russia" in which he called on the population to fight against the GKChP. The White House, which houses the Russian government, was able to immediately start organizing resistance to the putsch.

B.N. Yeltsin resubordinated to himself "all executive bodies of the USSR, the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, operating on the territory of the RSFSR."

The vast majority of the population of Russia did not resist the coming to power of the GKChP. Most of the citizens for such a short period of being in power of the State Emergency Committee were not able to determine their attitude towards him. The prevailing mood in society was confusion.

But the coup was doomed, because. The leadership of the GKChP advocated obsolete socialist values, in which the majority of the population no longer believed. An attempt to establish a state of emergency in the country ended in failure in Moscow. About 100 thousand Muscovites concentrated near the House of Soviets in Moscow to support the Russian leadership. Most of the troops brought into Moscow went over to the side of B.N. Yeltsin. The result of the confrontation between the State Emergency Committee and the Russian authorities was decided August 20, when B.N. Yeltsin and his entourage were able to turn the tide of events in their favor and took control of the situation in Moscow. On August 21, the leaders of the GKChP flew to the Crimea, to Foros, to see the President of the USSR, allegedly isolated by them. In the evening of the same day, members of the GKChP were returned to Moscow and arrested. M.S. also returned to Moscow. Gorbachev. On August 22, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared the creation of the State Emergency Committee illegal. On the same day M.S. Gorbachev made a statement that he qualifies everything that happened as a coup d'état. On the same day, a criminal case was initiated against the members of the State Emergency Committee. On August 23, during a meeting with deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, he was demanded to immediately sign a decree on dissolution of the CPSU. The President of the USSR accepted this and other ultimatums. The next day, August 24, 1991, M.S. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, dissolved the union cabinet. The Central Committee of the CPSU announced the dissolution. B.N. Yeltsin suspended the activities of the Russian Communist Party and banned the activities of parties in the Armed Forces of the USSR on the territory of the RSFSR. August 24 B.N. Yeltsin signed a decree appointing his representatives to the territories and regions of the RSFSR. As a result of all the events that took place, not only the communist regime fell, but also the state-party structures that cemented the USSR collapsed.

The disintegration of all other state structures began: the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR was dissolved, and for the transitional period until the conclusion of a new union treaty between the republics, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR became the highest representative body of power; instead of the cabinet of ministers, a powerless inter-republican economic committee was created, most of the union ministries were liquidated. The Baltic republics, which had been seeking independence for two years, received it. Other republics adopted laws that strengthened their sovereignty and made them effectively beyond the control of Moscow.

On December 8, 1991, the Presidents of the Russian Federation (B. Yeltsin), Ukraine (L. Kravchuk) and Belarus (S. Shushkevich) signed an agreement in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the termination of the existence of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. At the meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha of the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev was not even invited.

On December 21, in Alma-Ata, 11 republics that were previously part of the USSR (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) signed a Declaration confirming the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Soviet Union ceased to exist.

December 25, 1991 President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev on Central Television announced his voluntary resignation of the powers of the President.

The collapse of the USSR is the result of the impact of a whole sum of objective and subjective factors. Permanent failures of economic reforms M.S. Gorbachev was encouraged by the republics to secede from the Union. The weakening of the power of the CPSU, this core of the Soviet system, also led to the collapse of the USSR.

Literature

Barsenkov, A.S. Introduction to Modern Russian History (1985-1991): A Course of Lectures. - M.: Aspect-Press, 1991. - S. 213-236.

Sogrin, V.V. Political history of modern Russia. 1985-2001: from Gorbachev to Putin / V.V. Sogrin. - M.: Publishing House "Ves Mir", 2001. - S. 86-102.

The events that took place from August 18 to 21, 1991, during which an attempted coup d'état was made, was called the August putsch. During this period, President Gorbachev was blocked by the top leadership of the USSR, with a further introduction of a state of emergency in the country, and the government of the country was taken over by the GKChP created by the "putschists".

What is the "August Putsch" and "GKChP"?

GKChP (State Committee for the State of Emergency) is a body (most often referred to in the form of an abbreviation) that was created by the top leadership of the USSR.

The composition of the GKChP included almost all the leaders of the highest echelon of power:

• Yanaev Gennady Ivanovich(Vice-President of the USSR, Acting President of the USSR from August 19 to August 21, 1991).


• Baklanov Oleg Dmitrievich(First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council).


• Kryuchkov Vladimir Alexandrovich(Chairman of the KGB of the USSR).


• Pavlov Valentin Sergeevich(Prime Minister of the USSR).


• Pugo Boris Karlovich(Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR).


• Yazov Dmitry Timofeevich(Minister of Defense of the USSR).


• Starodubtsev Vasily Alexandrovich(Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU).


• Tizyakov Alexander Ivanovich(President of the Association of State Enterprises and Associations of Industry, Construction, Transport and Communications of the USSR).

The period of the so-called activity of the GKChP was officially regarded and named as the August Putsch.

Attempts by the GKChP to seize power were unsuccessful, on August 22 all members of this committee were arrested, and the legitimate president took up his duties.

The political and state crisis in the USSR reached its climax by 1991, according to many experts, the state inevitably had only a few months to exist, since there was a lot, even without the creation of the State Emergency Committee, which actually acted as a catalyst for the collapse of the country.

Until now, there is no consensus in society about the State Emergency Committee and the August Putsch. Someone believes that it was an attempted coup d'état, with the aim of seizing power, and someone - that it was the last desperate attempt to save the Soviet Union from an obviously impending collapse.

Goals of the State Committee for the State of Emergency

The goals of the State Emergency Committee, in fact, can be divided into two groups: state and political. The state goals included preventing the collapse of the USSR, while the political goals included improving the standard of living of the population. Let's look at these goals in more detail.

Initially, the "putschists" wanted to preserve the integrity of the USSR. The fact is that on August 20 it was planned to sign a new union treaty between the republics that are part of the USSR, which involved the creation of a confederation between these states (the Union of Sovereign States), which, in fact, meant the actual collapse of the USSR and the formation of a new union based on independent republics . This is exactly what the “GKCHPists” wanted to prevent, which such a new agreement led to, we can see on the example of the CIS, with the creation of which the Soviet Union collapsed and the republics began to exist independently of each other.

Some historians believe that the main goal of the State Emergency Committee was to preserve their own positions, since if a new union treaty was signed, their powers or positions in general would actually be abolished. However, after the failure of the coup, Yanaev claimed that the members of the GKChP did not stick to their positions.

Political goals

The political goals of the GKChP were to carry out economic and social reforms. The people were tired of the hard life and really really wanted change, as was sung in the then popular song of V. Tsoi. The standard of living was inexorably falling, the crisis covered almost all spheres of life in the USSR, and the only way out of this situation, according to the "putschists", was to remove Gorbachev from office and change the country's political course.

The State Committee for the State of Emergency promised to freeze and reduce prices, as well as distribute land plots of 15 acres free of charge. As such, the GKChP did not announce an action plan and economic steps, most likely, they simply did not have such specific action plans.

Course of events

During his vacation, in the city of Foros on the state. dacha, at the direction of the “putschists”, the President of the USSR Gorbachev was blocked by employees of specially created units, while all communication channels were turned off for him.

From 8 o'clock in the morning, announcers on the radio read out a message stating that, for health reasons, the President of the USSR Gorbachev cannot fulfill his duties, and these powers are transferred to the Vice President of the USSR Yanaev. The report also spoke about the introduction of a state of emergency on the territory of the USSR and the State Emergency Committee is being formed for the effective management of the country.

All TV programs have been canceled on central television and concerts are being broadcast, including the famous Swan Lake ballet. Broadcasting of other channels is disabled. The ECHO of Moscow radio station broadcasts to Moscow.

The suburban dacha of RSFSR President Yeltsin is surrounded by employees of the Alpha unit. As soon as he learns about the creation of the State Emergency Committee and the attempts of the state. coup - decides to go to the White House. The commander of Alpha is given the command to release Yeltsin from the dacha to Moscow, but this decision, in fact, became fatal for the GKChP.

Upon arrival in Moscow, Yeltsin and other leaders of the RSFSR give a press conference at which they do not recognize the GKChP, calling their actions a coup, and calling on everyone to a general strike. People are starting to flock to the White House. Yeltsin's statement on Moscow is broadcast by the ECHO of Moscow radio station.

Meanwhile, the “putschists” are sending a tank battalion to the White House, which, having not received further orders from the command, after negotiations and psychological pressure from the crowd, goes over to the side of the people and Yeltsin. Then a significant historical event occurs: Yeltsin reads an appeal to citizens from one of the tanks, in which he declares the illegality of the State Emergency Committee and their decrees, that Gorbachev is blocked in the country and must speak to the people, convenes a congress of people's deputies of the USSR, and also calls for a general strike.

The gathered people are building barricades of trolleybuses and improvised metal objects in order to block the approaches to the White House of heavy military equipment.

In the evening, the GKChP holds a press conference that looks more like justifying its actions than any statements. The video clearly shows that the “putschists” are worried. You can watch the press conference below.

From the evening news release of the Vremya program, the country learns about ongoing events. Even then it becomes clear that the "putschists" are not succeeding in a coup.

In the morning, people are gathering at the White House, where a 200,000-strong rally against a coup d'état is taking place. In the evening, the demonstrators are preparing for the assault. A curfew is being introduced in Moscow. Alpha Special Forces refuses to carry out the assault order. As a result of the tank assault, three people from the civilian population die. The assault attempt failed.

Realizing the failure of the GKChP, members of its committee decided to go to Gorbachev in Foros, but he refuses to accept them. Along with this, representatives of the RSFSR fly to Foros for Gorbachev.

At 00:04 Gorbachev arrives in Moscow, these shots also became historical. After that, he reads an appeal to the people on television.

Then Gorbachev holds a press conference in which he gives an assessment of the events. After this press conference, the State Emergency Committee is actually liquidated and the August coup ends.

At a rally on August 22, the protesters decide to make the pre-revolutionary tricolor flag of the RSFSR: white, red, blue flag. And at midnight, the monument to Dzerzhinsky, erected opposite the KGB, was dismantled at the request of the protesters.

After these events, the statehood of the USSR begins to actively collapse, with the declaration of independence by Ukraine, then these processes of declaring independence began to snowball.

All participants and accomplices of the GKChP were arrested. In 1993, a trial began over them, which ended with an amnesty for almost all of them. Army General Varennikov refused the amnesty, but was acquitted, since the court did not see any criminal acts in his actions.

Numerous documentaries have been made about the events of this period. You can watch the video chronicle of those days in this video.

A fragment of the transfer of the Namedni, dedicated to the August coup.

On August 15, 1991, the draft Treaty on the Formation of the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics (USSR) was published, developed on the basis of consultations in Novo-Ogaryovo of the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev with the leaders of the Union republics. According to the document, instead of the former state, a new political entity was established - a union, in fact, of sovereign states. A grandiose transformation of the USSR into a confederation was planned. Moreover, only nine out of fifteen republics agreed to sign the new Union Treaty. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia did not participate in the Novo-Ogaryovo process. Obviously, after the reformatting of the USSR, they would have to recognize their state independence. The signing of the Union Treaty by the heads of state power of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan was scheduled for August 20. The remaining six republics were to conclude an agreement before the end of October 1991.

The project immediately drew mixed responses. He was welcomed in democratic circles. Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR A.I. Lukyanov on August 16 subjected him to severe criticism. The conservative press spoke more insistently than before that the treaty was destroying the USSR as a state.

When in the European part of the country it was still the morning of Monday August 19, 1991, and in the Far East far after noon, the citizens of yet another country suddenly learned that last night the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev was removed from power “for health reasons”, that the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) was created in Moscow, which assumed full power, and that from 4 o’clock in the morning Moscow time in “certain areas of the USSR” (not specified in which) a state of emergency has already been introduced. On the same morning, Muscovites saw tanks on the streets, and in the evening they were told that a curfew would be in effect in the capital.

Such a disruption in the normal course of life of hundreds of millions of citizens pursued the following goals: the adoption of "the most decisive measures to prevent society from slipping into a national catastrophe"; "ensuring law and order"; countering extremist forces that have taken "a course towards the liquidation of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost"; restoration in the shortest possible time of "labor discipline and order"; increasing the level of production.

The television news programs did not give any details of what was happening. From time to time, the ballet "Swan Lake" was broadcast, interrupted by news releases, during which the next decrees of the State Emergency Committee were read out and it was said about the unanimous approval of his actions by the "workers" throughout the country. A person far from the center of events inevitably got the impression that the entire leadership of the Russian Federation, starting with President B.N. Yeltsin, should have already been arrested, and possibly shot without trial or investigation. After all, the entire previous political year in Moscow, since the summer of 1990, was marked by a growing confrontation between the leaders of the USSR and the RSFSR. But already on August 20, it became clear to many that the “coup” had somehow gone wrong.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that many leaders of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR, and power allied ministries and departments expressed their support for the State Emergency Committee. It is indicative that the reaction to the GKChP was ambiguous in circles that are usually associated with democratic and which are oriented towards the "progressive" world public opinion.

Among Russian politicians, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSS) V.V. Zhirinovsky, shortly before that, in June 1991, ran for the first time for the presidency of the Russian Federation and won about 8% of the vote. Therefore, the first decree of President B.N. Yeltsin, after the liquidation of the GKChP, announced the dissolution of the LDPSS, together with the CPSU, as parties that approved the "anti-constitutional coup."

Many leaders of the republican communist parties spoke for the GKChP, and the then chairman of the Supreme Council of the Byelorussian SSR N.I. Dementey. But the statement of the extremely anti-Soviet President of the Republic of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia on the recognition of the State Emergency Committee and on subordination to him was a complete surprise - first of all, for his supporters. After that moment, the political star of Gamsakhurdia, who was elected president of the republic with 87% of the votes only in May 1991, quickly faded. Obviously, Gamsakhurdia was frightened by the seriousness of the intentions of the GKCHPists and tried to ensure the preservation of his power, but, as it turned out later, he miscalculated.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine L.M. evaded a public assessment of events in Moscow. Kravchuk. At the same time, he prevented the convocation of the Verkhovna Rada to discuss what was happening. According to the memoirs of the then commander of the Carpathian Military District, General of the Army V.I. Varennikov, who was subsequently brought to trial along with the GKCHPists, Kravchuk confidentially expressed his intention to follow all the instructions of the GKChP.

The reaction of the West to the coup in Moscow was generally negative. The tone was set by US President George W. Bush, who demanded that the State Emergency Committee immediately end the isolation of M.S. Gorbachev and give him the opportunity to communicate with the media. Only the statement of French President Francis Mitterrand about his readiness to cooperate with the "new leadership of the USSR" sounded dissonant. No one saw anything unusual in the fact that the Government of the People's Republic of China declared the same readiness. As well as the fact that the then leaders of Iraq (Saddam Hussein) and Libya (Muammar Gaddafi) came out with ardent support for the GKChP.

In conclusion, it should be said that the actions of the State Emergency Committee have not received a legal assessment as a "coup d'état." All those brought to trial in this case were amnestied by an act of the State Duma of Russia dated February 23, 1994. The only exception was General Varennikov. He refused to accept the amnesty, insisted on a trial and was fully acquitted due to the absence of corpus delicti in his actions. Therefore, the characterization of the events of August 19-21, 1991 as an "attempt at an anti-constitutional coup" has no legal basis at present.

The August putsch is a political coup that took place in Moscow in August 1991, the purpose of which was to overthrow the existing government and change the vector of the country's development, preventing the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The August putsch took place from August 19 to 21, 1991, and became, in fact, the reason for the further collapse of the USSR, although its goal was a completely different development of events. As a result of the coup, members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP), a self-proclaimed body that assumed the duties of the main body of state administration, wanted to come to power. However, the attempts of the GKChP to seize power failed, and all members of the GKChP were arrested.

The main reason for the putsch is dissatisfaction with the perestroika policy pursued by M.S. Gorbachev, and the deplorable results of his reforms.

Causes of the August Putsch

After a period of stagnation in the USSR, the country was in a very difficult situation - a political, economic, food and cultural crisis broke out. The situation was getting worse every day, it was necessary to urgently carry out reforms and reorganize the economy and the country's governance system. This was done by the current leader of the USSR - Mikhail Gorbachev. Initially, his reforms were assessed generally positively and were called "perestroika", but time passed, and the changes did not bring any results - the country plunged deeper into crisis.

As a result of the failure of Gorbachev's domestic political activities, discontent in the ruling structures began to grow sharply, a crisis of confidence in the leader arose, and not only his opponents, but also recent associates opposed Gorbachev. All this led to the fact that the idea of ​​a conspiracy to overthrow the current government began to mature.

The last straw was Gorbachev's decision to transform the Soviet Union into a Union of Sovereign States, that is, to actually give the republics independence, political and economic. This did not suit the conservative part of the ruling sector, who were in favor of maintaining the power of the CPSU and ruling the country from the center. On August 5, Gorbachev leaves for negotiations, and at the same time, the organization of a conspiracy to overthrow him begins. The purpose of the conspiracy is to prevent the collapse of the USSR.

Chronology of the events of the August putsch

The performance began on August 19 and took only three days. The members of the new government, first of all, read out the documents they had adopted the day before, in which they especially pointed out the inconsistency of the existing government. First of all, a decree was read signed by the Vice-President of the USSR G. Yanaev, which stated that Gorbachev could no longer fulfill the duties of the head of state due to his state of health, therefore Yanaev himself would perform his duties. Next, the “statement of the Soviet leadership” was read, which stated that a new body of state power was proclaimed - the State Emergency Committee, which included the First Deputy Chairman of the USSR Defense Council O.D. Baklanov, KGB Chairman V.A. Kryuchkov, Prime Minister of the SSR V.S. Pavlov, Minister of the Interior B.K. Pugo, as well as the President of the Association of State Enterprises and Objects of Industry, Construction and Transport A.I. Tizyakov. Yanaev himself was appointed head of the GKChP.

Next, the members of the KGChP addressed the citizens with a statement saying that the political freedoms given by Gorbachev led to the creation of a number of anti-Soviet structures that sought to seize power by force, destroy the USSR and destroy the country completely. In order to counter this, it is necessary to change the government. On the same day, the leaders of the GKChP issued the first decree that banned all associations that were not legalized in accordance with the Constitution of the USSR. At the same moment, many parties and circles, opposition to the CPSU, were dissolved, censorship was again introduced, many newspapers and other media were closed.

In order to ensure the new order on August 19, troops were brought into Moscow. However, the struggle for power by the GKChP was not simple - the President of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin, who issued a decree that all executive bodies must strictly obey the President of Russia (RSFSR). Thus, he managed to organize a good defense and resist the State Emergency Committee. The confrontation between the two structures ended on August 20 with Yeltsin's victory. All members of the GKChP were arrested immediately.

On the 21st, Gorbachev returns to the country, who immediately receives a series of ultimatums from the new government, to which he is forced to agree. As a result, Gorbachev resigned from the post of chairman of the Central Committee of the CPSU, dissolved the CPSU, the cabinet of ministers, republican ministries and a number of other state bodies. Gradually, the collapse of all state structures begins.

Significance and results of the August coup

The members of the GKChP conceived the August putsch as a measure that should prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, which by that time was in the deepest crisis, but the attempt not only failed, in many respects it was the putsch that accelerated the events that took place further. The Soviet Union finally showed itself as an untenable structure, the government was completely reorganized, various republics gradually began to emerge and gain independence.

The Soviet Union gave way to the Russian Federation.

The August putsch is an attempt to remove Mikhail Gorbachev from the presidency of the USSR and change his course, undertaken by the self-proclaimed State Committee for the State of Emergency (GKChP) on August 19, 1991.

On August 17, a meeting of future members of the GKChP took place at the ABC facility, a closed guest residence of the KGB. It was decided to introduce a state of emergency from August 19, form the State Emergency Committee, require Gorbachev to sign the relevant decrees or resign and transfer powers to Vice President Gennady Yanaev, detain Yeltsin at the Chkalovsky airfield upon arrival from Kazakhstan for a conversation with Minister of Defense Yazov, proceed further depending on the outcome of the negotiations.

On August 18, representatives of the committee flew to the Crimea to negotiate with Gorbachev, who was on vacation in Foros, in order to obtain his consent to the introduction of a state of emergency. Gorbachev refused to give them his consent.

At 4:32 p.m., all types of communications were cut off at the presidential dacha, including the channel that provided control of the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR.

At 0400 hours, the Sevastopol regiment of the USSR KGB troops blocked the presidential dacha in Foros.

From 06.00 All-Union Radio begins to broadcast messages about the introduction of a state of emergency in some regions of the USSR, the decree of the Vice-President of the USSR Yanaev on his assumption of the duties of the President of the USSR in connection with the illness of Gorbachev, the statement of the Soviet leadership on the creation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR, the appeal of the State Emergency Committee to the Soviet people.

22:00. Yeltsin signed a decree on the annulment of all decisions of the State Emergency Committee and on a number of reshuffles in the State Radio and Television.

01:30. The Tu-134 plane with Rutskoi, Silaev and Gorbachev landed in Moscow at Vnukovo-2.

Most members of the GKChP were arrested.

Mourning for the dead has been declared in Moscow.

From 12.00 the rally of the winners near the White House began. In the middle of the day, Yeltsin, Silaev and Khasbulatov spoke at it. During the rally, the demonstrators carried a huge banner of the Russian tricolor; The President of the RSFSR announced that a decision had been made to make the white-azure-red banner the new state flag of Russia.

The new state flag of Russia (tricolor) was installed for the first time on the top point of the building of the House of Soviets.

On the night of August 23, by order of the Moscow City Council, with a massive gathering of protesters, the monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky on Lubyanka Square was dismantled.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources