Gang of Eight (Soviet Union)
Encyclopedia
The State Committee on the State of Emergency was a group of eight high-level officials within the Soviet government, the Communist party and the KGB
who attempted a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev
on 18 August 1991. Within two days, by 20 August 1991, the attempted coup collapsed.
Pugo shot himself to avoid arrest, while the other seven members were arrested.
. Afterwards, members of the Gang of Eight were arrested.
from the Prosecutor General. Anatoliy Ukolov as a deputy chairman of the Collegiate was given the case for a revision. On 26 January 1993 was assigned as a hearing for the criminal case. Those that were to be prosecuted for involvement included the aforementioned eight plus three others:
The trials lasted for 14 months 14 April 1993 to 1 March 1994. The trials were open to public and press media, however the foreign press media did not participate as there were no space for them left in the courtroom. A prosecution commission was assigned and consisted of nine people and headed by Denisov, who was a Deputy Prosecutor General. The following defense attorneys were hired: Genri Reznik (Shenin), Genrikh Padva, Yuriy Ivanov (Kryuchkov), Dmitriy Shteinberg (Varennikov), and others. In total there were 17 defense attorneys. The court questioning only started on 30 November 1993 due to various procrastination techniques utilized by the defense. Questioning was conducted mainly to four people: Yazov, Kryuchkov, Shenin, and Varennikov, and lasted a couple of weeks.
On 23 February 1994 the State Duma issued a political and economic amnesty. On 1 March 1994 the case was closed as all 11 prosecuted accepted amnesty. Varennikov also accepted amnesty at first under the condition that Mikhail Gorbachev would be prosecuted next. He accused Gorbachev of leading the country to the political disaster that it was in. The court, of course, did not open a new case by his petition, but did send his inquiry to the Prosecutor General's office. The Prosecutor General's office chose not to follow up on Varennikov's petition as, according to Anatoliy Ukolov, no case has appeared in that regard.
After 10 days, however, the Presidium of the Supreme Court supported the prosecution in court by the protest of Denisov and the case was reopened. The reason for that was the procedural infringements connected with amnesty. The case should not have been closed prior to carry out the decision whether or not the accused were guilty and only then present the option of amnesty. The Presidium of the Supreme Court arranged a new hearing and assigned a new judge whom become Viktor Aleksandrovich Yaskin. He conducted the case review by already newly accepted court procedures. Yaskin gathered the prosecuted once again and asked them again if they wish to accept the amnesty. All, but Varennikov accepted it. So the case continued on only with participation of Varennikov. That case finished in full acquittance of the last as he was a subordinated to the Minister of Defense and was executing his orders.
The main organizers were identified as Kryuchkov, Yazov, Shenin, and Pavlov.
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
who attempted a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
on 18 August 1991. Within two days, by 20 August 1991, the attempted coup collapsed.
Members
The eight members were:- Gennady YanayevGennady YanayevGennady Ivanovich Yanayev was a Soviet Russian politician and statesman whose career spanned the rules of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko, and culminated during the Gorbachev years. Yanayev was born in Perevoz, Gorky Oblast...
(1937–2010), Vice President - Valentin PavlovValentin PavlovValentin Sergeyevich Pavlov was a Soviet official who became a Russian banker following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Born in the city of Moscow, then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Pavlov began his political career in the Ministry of Finance in 1959...
(1937–2003), Prime Minister - Boris Pugo (1937–1991), Interior Minister
- Dmitry YazovDmitry YazovDmitry Timofeyevich Yazov was the last Marshal of the Soviet Union to be appointed before the collapse of the Soviet Union . He was the only Marshal of the Soviet Union to be born in Siberia....
, (b. 1923) Defense Minister and Marshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet UnionMarshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. .... - Vladimir KryuchkovVladimir KryuchkovVladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991...
(1924–2007), Chairman of the KGBKGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the... - Oleg BaklanovOleg BaklanovOleg Dmitriyevich Baklanov was a Soviet politician, high functionary in government and industry, and is now a scientist and businessman....
(b. 1932), First Deputy Chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR - Vasily StarodubtsevVasily StarodubtsevVasily Alexandrovich Starodubtsev is a Soviet/Russian politician and ex-governor of Tula Oblast . He was also one of the GKChP members during the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt and is a former leader of the Agrarian Party of Russia.-References:...
(b. 1931), Chairman of the Peasants' Union of the USSR - Alexander Tizyakov (b. 1926), President of the Association of State Enterprises
Pugo shot himself to avoid arrest, while the other seven members were arrested.
Coup d'etat
The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt (19–21 August 1991), was an attempt by a Gang of Eight to take control of the country from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. The group of eight were hard-line members of the Communist Party (CPSU) who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and the new union treaty that he had negotiated which dispersed much of the central government's power to the republics. Although the coup collapsed in only two days and Gorbachev returned to government, the event destabilised the Soviet Union and is widely considered to have helped in bringing about both the demise of the Communist Party and the dissolution of the Soviet UnionDissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
. Afterwards, members of the Gang of Eight were arrested.
Court trials
On 15 December 1992 over a year after the incident a criminal case of 144 volumes was sent to the Military Collegiate of the Supreme Court of the Russian FederationSupreme Court of the Russian Federation
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the court of last resort in Russian administrative law, civil law and criminal law cases. It also supervises the work of lower courts. Its predecessor is the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union....
from the Prosecutor General. Anatoliy Ukolov as a deputy chairman of the Collegiate was given the case for a revision. On 26 January 1993 was assigned as a hearing for the criminal case. Those that were to be prosecuted for involvement included the aforementioned eight plus three others:
- Oleg BaklanovOleg BaklanovOleg Dmitriyevich Baklanov was a Soviet politician, high functionary in government and industry, and is now a scientist and businessman....
(b. 1932), Deputy Chairman of Security Council - Anatoly LukyanovAnatoly LukyanovAnatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov is a Russian Communist politician who was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR between 15 March 1990 and 22 August 1991. One of the founders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in 1993, he is described by its leader Gennady Zyuganov as the "Deng...
(b. 1930), Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union - General of the Army Valentin VarennikovValentin VarennikovValentin Ivanovich Varennikov was a Soviet/Russian general and politician, best known for being one of the planners and leaders of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, as well as one of the instigators of the Soviet coup attempt of 1991.-Early life:Valentin Varennikov was born to a poor Cossack family...
(1923–2009), Deputy Minister of Defense, Commander Land Forces
The trials lasted for 14 months 14 April 1993 to 1 March 1994. The trials were open to public and press media, however the foreign press media did not participate as there were no space for them left in the courtroom. A prosecution commission was assigned and consisted of nine people and headed by Denisov, who was a Deputy Prosecutor General. The following defense attorneys were hired: Genri Reznik (Shenin), Genrikh Padva, Yuriy Ivanov (Kryuchkov), Dmitriy Shteinberg (Varennikov), and others. In total there were 17 defense attorneys. The court questioning only started on 30 November 1993 due to various procrastination techniques utilized by the defense. Questioning was conducted mainly to four people: Yazov, Kryuchkov, Shenin, and Varennikov, and lasted a couple of weeks.
On 23 February 1994 the State Duma issued a political and economic amnesty. On 1 March 1994 the case was closed as all 11 prosecuted accepted amnesty. Varennikov also accepted amnesty at first under the condition that Mikhail Gorbachev would be prosecuted next. He accused Gorbachev of leading the country to the political disaster that it was in. The court, of course, did not open a new case by his petition, but did send his inquiry to the Prosecutor General's office. The Prosecutor General's office chose not to follow up on Varennikov's petition as, according to Anatoliy Ukolov, no case has appeared in that regard.
After 10 days, however, the Presidium of the Supreme Court supported the prosecution in court by the protest of Denisov and the case was reopened. The reason for that was the procedural infringements connected with amnesty. The case should not have been closed prior to carry out the decision whether or not the accused were guilty and only then present the option of amnesty. The Presidium of the Supreme Court arranged a new hearing and assigned a new judge whom become Viktor Aleksandrovich Yaskin. He conducted the case review by already newly accepted court procedures. Yaskin gathered the prosecuted once again and asked them again if they wish to accept the amnesty. All, but Varennikov accepted it. So the case continued on only with participation of Varennikov. That case finished in full acquittance of the last as he was a subordinated to the Minister of Defense and was executing his orders.
The main organizers were identified as Kryuchkov, Yazov, Shenin, and Pavlov.
The further fate of GKChP members
- Pugo, committed suicide together with his wife. However, some sources speculate that he may have been murdered.
- Yazov, spent 18 months in Matrosskaya TishinaMatrosskaya TishinaMatrosskaya Tishina is a detention facility located in northern Moscow, known by the name of the street on which it is located...
. According to the magazine "Vlast" No.41(85) of 14 October 1991 "...from the prison contacted the President with a recorded video message, where repented and called himself "an old fool". Yazov denies ever doing that. He accepted the amnesty stating that he was not guilty. He was dismissed from the military service by the Presidential Order and awarded a ceremonial weapon. He was awarded an order of Honor by the President of Russian Federation. Yazov works as a military adviser at the General Staff AcademyGeneral Staff Academy (Russia)The General Staff Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was founded in 1936 in Moscow by Leonid Govorov. It was the senior Soviet and now Russian professional school for officers....
. - Varennikov, spent 18 months in Matrosskaya Tishina, refused to accept the offered amnesty, and was eventually recognized as not guilty. Prior to GKChP he participated in events to capture the TV-station in Vilnius and according to the assistant of Gorbachev, Andrei Chernyayev, the decision to use the force was taken him personally without discussion with the President. Varennikov since 1995 was a people's deputy and in 2008 publicly was stating that the military force used during the August putsch was intended for security purposes including the protection of Yeltsin. He died in 2009 and was buried in Moscow.
- Baklanov, spent 18 months in Matrosskaya Tishina, then accepted an amnesty in 1994 as not guilty. Later he worked as a director of Rosobshchemash.
- Yanayev, spent 18 months in Matrosskaya Tishina. Later he became a chairman of the department of national history at the Russian International Academy of Tourism.
- Pavlov, during the putsch was taken to a hospital with a diagnosis of hypertensionHypertensionHypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
, but on 29 August was transferred to Matrosskaya Tishina. He accepted his amnesty as not guilty and became the head of the Chasprombank. Pavlov resigned from the bank on 31 August 1995 and six months later the bank was left without license. Later he was an adviser at Promstroibank (today known as Bank VTB). Pavlov died in 2003 after a series of heart attacks and was buried in Moscow.