Chronology of Events of August 19, 20, 21, 1991
In compiling this Chronology of Events, the editors relied on several published chronologies; documents such as the decrees issued by the Emergency Committee and by the government of Russia; their own memories of events; and—because there are many inconsistencies among all the above—a good deal of common sense.[89] Accordingly, the chronology should be used with caution. Note also that times given for some of the events refer to the moment of their being reported by a news service and not necessarily the moment when they took place.
The world found out about the conspiracy on Monday, August 19, 1991, but the coup d’état as such had commenced on the previous day.
On Sunday, August 18, in the Presidential vacation home in Foros, in the Crimea, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was at work on his speech for the signing of the Union Treaty (the signing was scheduled for August 20). At 4:00 P.M., he discussed his speech on the telephone with his aide, Georgii Shakhnazarov, who was staying at a nearby resort. At 4:50 P.M., Gorbachev was informed that a delegation, headed by his chief of staff, Valerii Boldin, and including the Chief of the Security Directorate of the KGB, Yurii Plekhanov, had arrived—uninvited—and was requesting a meeting with him. Reaching for the telephone to find out the reason for this surprise visit, Gorbachev discovered that all of his lines of communication with the outside world had been cut. After a brief family council, Gorbachev met the visitors, who, speaking in the name of the Emergency Committee, offered him an ultimatum: sign the declaration of the state of emergency and transfer presidential powers to Vice President Yanaev, or resign. Gorbachev refused to do either. The delegation returned to Moscow empty-handed, and the machinery of the coup d’état, much of it slapped together at the last moment, went into motion.
August 19, 1991
1:00 A.M. Gennadii Shishkin, First Deputy Director of TASS, is awakened by a phone call from Leonid Kravchenko, the Director of Gosteleradio, and asked to come to the Central Committee headquarters.
4:00 A.M. The Sevastopol Regiment of the KGB surrounds Gorbachev’s dacha at Foros in the Crimea. The runway at the airstrip where the presidential plane and helicopter sit is blocked on the order of Commander of the Air Defense Forces, Colonel General Maltsev.
4:30 A.M. A coded cable, signed by the Minister of Defense, Dmitrii Yazov, is sent to the Commander of the Far East Forces; the Commander of the Airborne Paratrooper Forces; commanders of army groups, military districts and fleets; and heads of the chief and central directorates of the Ministry of Defense, ordering them to upgrade the readiness status of the forces under their command to battle-ready.
6:00 A.M. Central television and radio are taken over by the State Committee for the State of Emergency, consisting of eight government officials: Vice President Gennadii Yanaev; KGB head Vladimir Kriuchkov; Defense Minister Dmitrii Yazov; Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Pugo; Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov; First Deputy Chairman of the National Defense Council and leader of the military-industrial complex Oleg Baklanov; chairman of Peasants’ Union Vasilii Starodubtsev; and the President of the Association of State Enterprises and Industrial Groups in Production, Construction, Transportation, and Communications, Aleksandr Tiziakov. Only one nationwide channel is broadcasting. Each hour, the following items are read: Decree of Vice President Yanaev; Declaration of the Soviet Leadership; Appeal to the Soviet People; Appeal to [Foreign] States and Governments and the Secretary General of the United Nations; Resolution No. 1 of the Emergency Committee; and a declaration criticizing the Union Treaty by Anatolii Lukianov, Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet. All of these statements, except for Lukianov’s declaration, pronounce Gorbachev to be “no longer capable of performing his duties due to the state of his health.” Lukianov’s declaration is dated August 16, 1991; the others, August 18, 1991.
Minister of Defense Dmitrii Yazov, a member of the Emergency Committee, convenes a meeting of the commanders of the country’s military districts. His instructions: maintain order and increase security at military installations.
7:40 A.M. KGB personnel enter the offices of the Moscow Echo radio station, shut it down, and seal the premises.
8:25—9:00 A.M. In Lithuania, the Radio and Television Center is taken over by Soviet Army troops. Broadcasts are interrupted, but radio transmission continues in the capital, Vilnius.
One of the first steps by the conspirators is to limit the press to nine central and Moscow newspapers.
8:30 A.M. Viktor Urazhtsev, People’s Deputy of the RSFSR and the chairman of Shield, a veterans’ association, is arrested outside the RSFSR Supreme Soviet Building (hereafter, the White House).
9:00 A.M. Telman Gdlian, a USSR People’s Deputy famous for his struggle against official corruption, is arrested in his apartment by agents of the KGB. He is held under guard with two other RSFSR deputies, Mikhail Kamchatov and Nikolai Proselkov, at a military base outside Moscow.
The “Appeal to the Citizens of Russia” is signed by the President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin; Ivan Silaev, Prime Minister of Russia; and Ruslan Khasbulatov, Acting Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia. The appeal declares the State Committee for the State of Emergency along with its decrees and orders to be illegal and unconstitutional; orders local authorities to observe strictly constitutional laws and presidential decrees; demands that Gorbachev be allowed to address the country; convenes an Extraordinary Session of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR; and calls for a general strike in support of these demands.
The Moscow City Soviet sets up headquarters to deal with the emergency situation.
9:20 A.M. Yeltsin signs Decree No. 59, declaring that (1) the Emergency Committee is unconstitutional and its actions a coup d’état; (2) decisions of the Emergency Committee have no legal force on RSFSR territory; and (3) officials following the orders of the Emergency Committee are in violation of the RSFSR Criminal Code and subject to prosecution.
9:30 A.M. In Moscow, movements of military columns begin, including army trucks, tanks, and armored personnel carriers (APCs). Broadcasting over the Russian television channel of Russian Federation broadcasting is interrupted.
10:00 A.M. The Press Service of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation announces that foreign correspondents are invited to a press conference to be held at 11:00 A.M. in the House of Soviets of the Russian Federation (hereafter the White House). Yeltsin is expected to conduct the press conference.
The Leningrad Military District Commander, General Viktor Samsonov, announces on local radio and television the formation of the State Committee for the State of Emergency and the introduction of emergency measures affecting the workplace, public transport, the media, and communications. Strikes and public meetings are prohibited.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR decides to convene an emergency session of the Supreme Soviet on August 21, 1991.
APCs surround Komsomolskaia pravda’s editorial offices.
10:30 A.M. Prime Minister Pavlov, a coup leader, suffers an attack of hypertension.
11:00 A.M. A large tank column advances into Moscow along the Minsk Highway.
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The following sources have been used: