Viktor Ilyin
Encyclopedia
An assassination
attempt was made upon Leonid Brezhnev
on 22 January 1969, when a deserter from the Soviet Army
, Viktor Ilyin, fired shots at a motorcade
carrying the Soviet leader
through Moscow
. Though Brezhnev was unhurt, the shots killed a driver and lightly injured several celebrated cosmonauts of the Soviet space program
who were present in the motorcade. Brezhnev's attacker was captured and a news blackout on the event was maintained by the Soviet government for years thereafter.
in 1948. After his graduation from a technical college, he was inducted into the Soviet Army in 1968 at the rank of second lieutenant
. Ilyin was said to have been resentful of his forced conscription and deeply distressed by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
On 21 January 1969, Ilyin stole two standard-issue Makarov handguns and deserted his army unit. He went back to his family in Leningrad where he stole his brother-in-law's authentic police uniform. Ilyin then left on an unannounced, solitary journey to Moscow.
and Soyuz 5
to an official Soviet ceremony of the highest order.
The spaceflight crewmembers - Vladimir Shatalov
, Boris Volynov
, Yevgeny Khrunov
, and Aleksei Yeliseyev
- had returned only a week earlier from their historic manned ship-to-manned ship docking mission in space, the first of its kind. Arriving at Vnukovo Airport, they were being driven with Brezhnev and Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny
to their commemorative celebration inside the Kremlin's Palace of Congresses. The four honorees rode in an open convertible at the front of the line, waving to spectators while a line of closed limousines trailed behind them.
, Georgy Beregovoy and Andrian Nikolayev
.
Ilyin's shots struck the limousine fourteen times, killing the driver, Ilya Zharkov, before a guard ran him down with his motorcycle. The other occupants of the car were unscathed or suffered only superficial wounds. After Ilyin was arrested, the cosmonauts' ceremony took place as planned, just slightly delayed.
chief and future Soviet leader Yuri Andropov
. He was pronounced insane and sent to Kazan Psychiatric Hospital where he was kept in solitary confinement until 1988.
According to Russian sources, Ilyin was released in 1990 and moved to St. Petersburg. The bullet-holed limousine has been preserved and is occasionally put on public exhibition.
Years later, the cosmonaut Leonov recounted how Brezhnev confided to him after the incident: "Brezhnev took me aside and told me, 'Those bullets were not meant for you, Alexei. They were meant for me, and for that I apologize.'" But until the fall of the Soviet Union itself, the KGB had kept information about the shooting to a bare minimum. The entire incident was "so effectively hushed up" that it is sometimes cited as a classic example of Soviet obfuscation and disinformation
.
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempt was made upon Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
on 22 January 1969, when a deserter from the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
, Viktor Ilyin, fired shots at a motorcade
Motorcade
A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade was coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"...
carrying the Soviet leader
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
through Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. Though Brezhnev was unhurt, the shots killed a driver and lightly injured several celebrated cosmonauts of the Soviet space program
Soviet space program
The Soviet space program is the rocketry and space exploration programs conducted by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the 1930s until its dissolution in 1991...
who were present in the motorcade. Brezhnev's attacker was captured and a news blackout on the event was maintained by the Soviet government for years thereafter.
The assassin
Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin ( was born in LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
in 1948. After his graduation from a technical college, he was inducted into the Soviet Army in 1968 at the rank of second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
. Ilyin was said to have been resentful of his forced conscription and deeply distressed by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
On 21 January 1969, Ilyin stole two standard-issue Makarov handguns and deserted his army unit. He went back to his family in Leningrad where he stole his brother-in-law's authentic police uniform. Ilyin then left on an unannounced, solitary journey to Moscow.
The cosmonauts' motorcade
Dressed like a policeman, Ilyin moved unimpeded through a large crowd waiting at the Kremlin. They were clustered at the Borovitsky Gate, where a special motorcade was expected to pass: it would be bearing the successful cosmonauts of Soyuz 4Soyuz 4
Soyuz 4 was launched on January 14, 1969. On board the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft was cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov on his first flight. The aim of the mission was to dock with Soyuz 5, transfer two crew members from that spacecraft, and return to Earth...
and Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5
Soyuz 5 was a Soyuz mission using the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on January 15, 1969, which docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit...
to an official Soviet ceremony of the highest order.
The spaceflight crewmembers - Vladimir Shatalov
Vladimir Shatalov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov is a former Soviet cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10....
, Boris Volynov
Boris Volynov
Boris Valentinovich Volynov is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. He was the first Jewish cosmonaut.-Biography:...
, Yevgeny Khrunov
Yevgeny Khrunov
Yevgeni Vassilyevich Khrunov was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 5/Soyuz 4 mission.He was born in Prudy.Yevgeni Khrunov was a colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union and Kandidat of Technical Sciences ....
, and Aleksei Yeliseyev
Aleksei Yeliseyev
Aleksei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 5, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10....
- had returned only a week earlier from their historic manned ship-to-manned ship docking mission in space, the first of its kind. Arriving at Vnukovo Airport, they were being driven with Brezhnev and Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny
Nikolai Podgorny
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny was a Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, or leader of the Ukrainian SSR, from 1957 to 1963 and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1965 to 1977...
to their commemorative celebration inside the Kremlin's Palace of Congresses. The four honorees rode in an open convertible at the front of the line, waving to spectators while a line of closed limousines trailed behind them.
Assassination attempt
At 2:15 pm on 22 January 1969, as the motorcade passed through the gate, Ilyin drew pistols in both hands. Ignoring the waving cosmonauts, he opened fire on the second car in the line: he later admitted that he only assumed it carried Brezhnev. Unbeknownst to him, this Zil limousine was filled only with other cosmonauts from earlier missions: Alexey Leonov, Valentina TereshkovaValentina Tereshkova
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut, and was the first woman in space. She was selected out of more than four hundred applicants, and then out of five finalists, to pilot Vostok 6 on the 16 June, 1963, becoming both the first woman and the first civilian to fly in...
, Georgy Beregovoy and Andrian Nikolayev
Andrian Nikolayev
Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev , was a Soviet cosmonaut. He was an ethnic Chuvash.- History :...
.
Ilyin's shots struck the limousine fourteen times, killing the driver, Ilya Zharkov, before a guard ran him down with his motorcycle. The other occupants of the car were unscathed or suffered only superficial wounds. After Ilyin was arrested, the cosmonauts' ceremony took place as planned, just slightly delayed.
Aftermath
Ilyin underwent a lengthy interrogation led by KGBKGB
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...
chief and future Soviet leader Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
. He was pronounced insane and sent to Kazan Psychiatric Hospital where he was kept in solitary confinement until 1988.
According to Russian sources, Ilyin was released in 1990 and moved to St. Petersburg. The bullet-holed limousine has been preserved and is occasionally put on public exhibition.
Legacy
The incident immediately revealed the wide gulf that existed between Western and Soviet media. In its aftermath, news was scant and slow to emerge, and it took two full days for an official Soviet press statement to be made; even then the given details were so unclear that reporters could not even determine if the shooter was a man or a woman. However, even without official confirmation, observers at the time confidently recognized the event as an assassination attempt on Brezhnev.Years later, the cosmonaut Leonov recounted how Brezhnev confided to him after the incident: "Brezhnev took me aside and told me, 'Those bullets were not meant for you, Alexei. They were meant for me, and for that I apologize.'" But until the fall of the Soviet Union itself, the KGB had kept information about the shooting to a bare minimum. The entire incident was "so effectively hushed up" that it is sometimes cited as a classic example of Soviet obfuscation and disinformation
Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. For this reason, it is synonymous with and sometimes called black propaganda. It is an act of deception and false statements to convince someone of untruth...
.