Boris YeltsinThe President of Russia and the most popular politician stood firm before dawn last night coup Thus overthrowing President Gorbachev. The actions of the Communist Party hardliners could end the longest and most successful period of democratic progress in the country’s turbulent history.
According to reports, tanks and personnel carriers loyal to Yeltsin have arrived in the Russian parliament to defend it. It is said that the crowd around the building behind the temporary roadblock made up of buses and trucks cheered them when the tanks arrived.
In Washington, President Bush condemned the coup as “illegal” and stated that “if we continue to insist on means beyond the constitution,” US economic assistance will cease. He said that the United States will “avoid actions that provide legitimacy or support for the coup in every possible way” and demanded that Gorbachev, who is believed to be under house arrest, be restored. Britain also suspended aid.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Yeltsin issued an appeal to the armed forces: “Soldiers, officers and generals, the cloud of terror and dictatorship is covering the whole country. They must not be allowed to bring eternal night.” He called for a general strike to obstruct the announcement. The State Emergency Committee in power.
The committee’s eight-member group led by Soviet Vice President Gennady Yanayev hinted last night that it would not order any military action against the Russian parliament.
It accused Mr. Yeltsin of “directly inciting illegal acts.” But it added that the committee, “showing… a desire for constructive cooperation” will limit itself to “warning this time against taking irresponsible and meaningless steps.”
According to the Republic’s radio report, in Riga, the capital of Latvia, the Soviet army shot and killed a minibus driver and wounded his passengers. Special forces occupied the TV station.
In Moscow, the new regime sent tanks to the streets to show force. The committee earlier banned all demonstrations and strikes, and implemented a state of emergency in Leningrad and other parts of the country. It controls Moscow’s national television station and all radio stations. It said that only nine pro-communist newspapers will be published today. But there are no reports of mass arrests.
In the Soviet Union, the reaction was mixed. The army occupied the TV station in Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. In Ukraine, President Leonid Kravchuk issued an ambiguous call for calm and restraint. He neither condemns nor supports the coup. In Kazakhstan, the most important republic in Central Asia, President Nursultan Nazarbayev also issued a similar statement.
The leaders of the coup included the heads of the armed forces, Marshal Dmitry Yazov, the Minister of Defense, General Boris Pugo, the Minister of the Interior, and Vladimir Kryuchkov, the head of the KGB. In their appeal to the Soviet public, they claimed that they were taking action to prevent further economic collapse, and that their measures were temporary and “in no way meant to abandon the path of profound reforms in all areas.”
Yanayev, 54 years old, was an official of the Communist Youth League and a long-term member of the party. He refused to describe Gorbachev as having been deposed. He said at a press conference that he is “on vacation and receiving treatment in Crimea” and that he may return to work once his health recovers. “As the situation normalizes”, direct presidential elections will be held.
Mr. Yanayev called on governments around the world to understand the actions of the Emergency Committee and said that the Soviet Union will fulfill all its international obligations, including the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Germany.
He described the measures taken yesterday as “out of the urgent need to save the economy from destruction and the country from hunger in order to prevent the threat of a large-scale civil war with unpredictable consequences”.
The first news of the coup came around 6:30 in the morning. The official news agency TASS issued a brief statement stating that Mr. Yanayev had assumed the presidency because of Mr. Gorbachev’s poor health. .
As Western leaders condemned this action, Mr. Yanayev’s efforts to quell panic around the world have had little effect.
The Speaker of the Soviet Parliament, Anatoly Lukyanov, announced that the Parliament will meet next Monday to approve the state of emergency. He made it clear that he was not satisfied with the final text of the alliance treaty scheduled to be signed today. The treaty will give the republic more powers.
The signing ceremony is undoubtedly the factor that prompted the hardliners to take action. They worry about a power vacuum in the Congress, as Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov said last week. Mr. Pavlov is a member of the new leadership.
Mr. Yanayev’s efforts to give legitimacy to his actions by convening the Supreme Soviet Conference may backfire. Although the parliament is more conservative than the Russian parliament, it is still unclear whether the Soviet congressmen will support the coup.
The leaders of the coup apparently hoped that the public’s dissatisfaction with the tragic economic situation led people to support them. They promised to lower the prices of consumer goods and food.
