Кино – Кончится лето || August coup (Августовский путч)

Описание: In August 1991, the collapse of the USSR became inevitable and everyone understood this. Eight high-level Soviet officials created a group known as the GKChP(State Committee on the State of Emergency). They wanted to cancel Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms and try to stop Soviet Union-s ruin. The GKChP declared a state of emergency in the entirety of the USSR and banned all Moscow newspapers except for "ideologically correct" onse.

On the morning of August 19 the Sevastopol regiment of KGB border troops surrounded Gorbachev's presidential dacha in Foros. All opposition TV channels and radios were taken off the air, units of the Tamanskaya mechanized infantry and Kantemirovskaya armored division entered Moscow. At the same time, KGB Alpha Group surrounded Boris Yeltsin's dacha with Spetsnaz, but for undisclosed reasons did not apprehend him. Yeltsin at that time was the president of the RSFSR and, according to the State Emergency Committee, posed the greatest threat to the putschists. The GKChP fears turned out to be true, Yeltsin quickly mobilized all his supporters and organized resistance.

At 9:00 Yeltsin arrived at the White House. In the afternoon, spontaneous rallies began to gather all over Moscow, but the center of resistance was the House of Soviets of Russia. There at 12:15 Yeltsin issued a declaration "To the Citizens of Russia" that condemned the GKChP actions as a reactionary anti-constitutional coup. People began to erect barricades around White House and prepare for defense.
The protesters formed a militia, some of the enforcers went over to the side of the president. However, the advantage still remained with the State Emergency Committee.

On august 20 citizens waited all night for the White House to be attacked, but command did not dare to do this. Despite the absence of a "general battle", small clashes with the military did occur. As a result, three protesters were killed.

At 5 am on August 21, a meeting of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense began. A decision is made to withdraw troops from Moscow.
The last meeting of the GKChP was held at 8 am.
At 10 a.m., the actions of the State Emergency Committee were condemned at a session of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.
At 10 pm, the Prosecutor General of the RSFSR issued a decree on the arrest of members of the State Emergency Committee.

On August 22, Yeltsin finally defeats the putschists, members of the GKChP are arrested.