The Russian Information Agency reporters at the scene are approached by an army major who does not give his name but identifies himself as officer of the 27th Brigade. He tells the reporters that the storming of the White House is scheduled for this night, that the attack is to be launched by thirty tanks and up to forty APCs, and that close to one thousand soldiers are to participate in the operation.
12:35 A.M. The transmitter of Moscow Echo, whose reporters have been broadcasting live from the White House, ceases functioning.
12:37 A.M. According to the Russian Information Agency, a poll conducted in Voronezh disclosed that 49 percent of the 724 polled residents of the city consider the Emergency Committee illegitimate; 28 percent consider it legitimate; 23 percent are not sure.
12:45 A.M. The chairman of the Control Commission of the RSFSR Communist Party telephones Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Lukianov, asking him to do everything possible to avoid bloodshed. Lukianov replies that he cannot do anything and that it was Yeltsin who had provoked the situation in the first place (“Where did his weapons come from?” Lukianov wondered).
12:57 A.M. The City of Samara supports the President of Russia.
1:03 A.M. Russian Vice President Rutskoi warns those gathered in the White House about a possible assault by KGB agents dressed in civilian clothes. He orders the security force to open fire without warning in case of such an attack.
Defense organizers at the White House ask citizens gathered outside to form a human chain.
1:30 A.M. There is an unconfirmed report that a military group with tanks is storming the building of the Moscow City Soviet.
The Moscow Military District Headquarters reports that the Kantemir and Taman Divisions are being withdrawn as unreliable. Only KGB and special-forces units will remain in Moscow.
1:35 A.M. People’s Deputy Urazhtsev reports that he was arrested by the State Emergency Committee earlier in the day and urged to join the coup. Later he was released. He says, “I think they do not believe they can win. They’re demoralized.”
1:40 A.M. Kazakhstan President Nazarbaev calls Yeltsin and tells him that he has spoken with Yanaev who “promised not to use force.”
1:45 A.M. Some 30 deputies go out onto the street to try to prevent bloodshed.
1:49 A.M. The Patriarch of All Russia, Aleksii II, issues an appeal for peace, saying that “who raises arms against unarmed people commits a grave sin which excommunicates them from the Church and from God.”
1:00–2:00 A.M. Colonel General Vladislav Achalov, USSR Deputy Minister of Defense for Emergency Situations, reports to Yazov about the first fatalities and the rapidly growing numbers of defenders around the White House. He warns Yazov that the planned attack will result in massive bloodshed. Yazov calls off the attack.
2:00–2:30 A.M. The estimated number of people surrounding the White House varies from 10,000 to 50,000. Reportedly thousands more block distant approaches to the Krasnopresnenskaia Embankment where the White House is situated.
Eduard Shevardnadze arrives and enters the parliament building. It is announced by megaphone that soldiers from one military unit assured the People’s Deputies they would not fire on the people.
The APC involved in the fatal incident was attacked by a Molotov cocktail and is burning near the tunnel under Kalinin Prospect. The human chains defending the parliament are shifting in response to reports about movements of the attacking troops.
The OMON troops that have guarded the Moscow Soviet Building leave for an unknown destination.
2:30 A.M. Members of a Moscow motorcyclist club (rokery) return from Kutuzov Prospect and report that no troops are there. Rumors circulate that additional forces have landed outside Moscow and are moving in. The White House defense headquarters is unable to confirm this.
There has been no attempt to storm the Moscow Soviet. Columns of military vehicles leave in the direction of Pushkin Square.
2:43 A.M. River transport crews bring their vessels to the Krasnapresnenskaia Embankment of the Moscow River and declare their support for Yeltsin.
3:04 A.M. Colonel General Vladislav Achalov, USSR Deputy Minister of Defense for Emergency Situations, has given assurances to a USSR People’s Deputy that the military command has no plans to storm the White House.
3:08 A.M. Over the previous two hours, the Russian leadership has been in contact with Yanaev, Moiseev (Chief of the General Staff), Kalinin (Commander of the Moscow Military District), and USSR Supreme Soviet Chairman Lukianov. All of them—except Kriuchkov, who could not be found—swore that they would stop the troops. Although it is quiet near the White House, it is not known whether the coup leaders will keep their word about not attacking the White House..
3:15 A.M. The troops involved in the assault operation are leaving Moscow in a chaotic manner. The State Traffic Patrol reports that tanks have been crossing the Garden Ring Road for several hours—in the outgoing direction.
3:16 A.M. Moscow Echo is back on the air.
3:24 A.M. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Colonel General Boris Gromov, representatives of the KGB, as well as the Moscow Military District Headquarters deny that the military vehicle burning near the White House belongs to them. It is supposed that there were casualties among the crews.
3:30 A.M. The Taman Tank Division has already withdrawn from the city and the withdrawal of the Kantemir Division is in progress. The retreat from Moscow is proceeding at full speed, though in an apparently disorganized manner.
3:40 A.M. Rutskoi has spoken with Lukianov: Gorbachev’s health is fine. Members of Gorbachev’s Security Council, Vadim Bakatin and Yevgenii Primakov, have also confirmed this information.
4:15 A.M. An Air Force official says that “zero hour” has already passed, so everyone can sleep easily now. He asserts that there is not even one airborne unit in Moscow. He adds that “the rumors about Yazov’s resignation are greatly exaggerated; the Minister of Defense is in command and leading the army.”
4:20 A.M. The City of Moscow Military Commandant, Lieutenant General Smirnov, expresses regret for the victims and believes that no military commanders issued orders to storm the parliament. He states that no troops will attempt to seize the White House either tomorrow or the following day: the rumors about the arrival of additional paratrooper forces at the Kubinka base near Moscow are unfounded.
4:30 A.M. The State Emergency Committee headed by Yanaev meets at the Hotel Oktiabrskaia.
An aide to General Kobets reports that units of the Vitebsk KGB Division have halted at the entrance to Moscow.
5:00 A.M. The cadets of the Briansk Police Academy are heading toward Moscow to aid in the defense of the White House. Pugo has ordered the Moscow police to disarm the cadets.
5:16 A.M. Troops have occupied the first two floors of the television center in Tallinn, Estonia.
5:25 A.M. Yeltsin’s aide State Secretary Gennadii Burbulis has contacted Kriuchkov several times during the night about possible movements of KGB troops and has warned the KGB chief about the dire consequences of any storming of the White House. Two KGB brigades in Moscow have just been turned back after Burbulis called Kriuchkov. In Burbulis’s opinion, “a turning point has been passed.”
The top leadership of the KGB is meeting through the night. Heads of departments either refuse to follow orders or maintain neutrality.