25 years on, Russians tell of how they defeated a coup against Gorbachev

25 years on, Russians tell of how they defeated a coup
August 17, 2016
MOSCOW (AP) — The KGB major was on vacation in the Russian countryside in August 1991 when he woke up to a radio broadcast announcing a state of national emergency. The bulletin contained something else: a secret code phrase for intelligence officers, summoning them back to their posts immediately.

On Aug. 19, 1991, a group of eight senior hard-line Communist leaders, including the KGB chairman, had seized power from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, declaring that Gorbachev was unable to continue as head of the party due to illness.

In fact, Gorbachev was under arrest and the "Gang of Eight" intended to roll back his reformist policies of glasnost and perestroika, which they believed had set the Soviet Union on a path of disaster.

http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4549792-25-years-on-russians-tell-they-defeated-coup.html#.1258-stage-hero1-5

Shiryayev said dozens of his colleagues got drunk, called in sick or spent hours outside the building smoking and drinking tea rather than participating in the coup. "Everyone realized this was a catastrophe. We were asked to obey absolutely unlawful orders that could have led to a civil war in Russia," he said.

Within two days, it was clear that headquarters employees were not obeying their boss, the KGB chairman Kryuchkov. Yeltsin received a phone call from the plotters, who said they were calling off the troops and sending for Gorbachev.

Shiryayev recalled seeing the stooped figure of Kryuchkov hurrying across the inner courtyard at KGB headquarters into his black limousine and driving away. Smokers in the courtyard shouted, "Scumbag, are you happy now?" and pelted him with cigarette butts.

Wonderful!

It's a pity that, after stopping the coup, Yeltsin got drunk and stayed that way while his country was looted and nearly collapsed into chaos. Russians deserved better after decades of communism being inflicted on them.