Today, there is no doubt that Gorbachev and his entourage played a decisive role in preparing the collapse of the Union of the Indestructible, one part of whom actively implemented the destructive decisions of the Secretary General, and the other silently watched as betrayal corrodes the foundations and unity of the country.
And none of the so-called associates dared to tell Gorbachev that he was not "a giant, but just a cockroach." But in the post-Soviet period, some of the General Secretary's associates hastened to publish memoirs in which they cursed their former patron in every way, telling about how they “opposed” the destructive perestroika course.
In this regard, I will try to show how the personnel environment for more than six years created conditions for Mikhail Sergeevich to work on the collapse of the country. I would not want something like this to happen again.
THE NIGHT IS DARKER, THE BRIGHTER THE STARS
Narcissistic dilettantes like Gorbachev, having broken into power, care only about their image. They surround themselves not with personalities, but with comfortable people in order to look like "geniuses" against their background. This feature of Mikhail Sergeevich was noted by the US Ambassador to the USSR J. Matlock, saying: "He felt comfortable only next to the silent or the gray …"
Mikhail Sergeevich formulated the essence of his personnel policy while he was working in Stavropol. Once, in response to friendly criticism of his personnel approaches, Gorbachev uttered the enigmatic phrase: "The darker the night, the brighter the stars." There is no doubt that he saw himself in the firmament as a star of the first magnitude. Therefore, he always tirelessly shuffled the deck, picking up the comfortable and helpful.
"Architect" of perestroika Alexander Yakovlev (to the left of M. Gorbachev)
By the time Gorbachev was elected General Secretary Yegor Ligachev, then head of the Department of Party Organizational Work of the Central Committee of the CPSU, managed to replace 70% of the secretaries of regional and regional party committees, having appointed "their trusted" people ready to fulfill any order and ensure a majority at the Central Committee plenary sessions.
With the arrival of Gorbachev, personnel changes took on a broader scope. In the first three years, the composition of the Central Committee was renewed by 85%, which was much higher than the indicators of 1934-1939. Then they amounted to about 77%. In 1988, Gorbachev began the "rejuvenation" of the Central Committee apparatus. “Gorbachev's men” were appointed to all key posts.
The Council of Ministers of the USSR was renewed in the same way. Only ten of the 115 pre-Gorbachev ministers remained there. Nevertheless, despite the endless personnel leapfrog, Gorbachev still believes that HIS restructuring was torpedoed by the conservative apparatus.
In his memoirs Life and Reforms, he writes: “… After the 27th Congress (1986) the composition of the district and city committees was changed three times, the Soviet bodies were almost completely renewed. After the January 1987 plenum of the Central Committee, the first secretaries were replaced in the alternative elections, many "old-timers" retired. The second, third or even fourth "team" took the helm, and things went on in the old fashioned way. So strong was the leaven. The dogmas of Marxism in a simplified Stalinist interpretation were so firmly hammered into their heads."
It is difficult to imagine a greater misunderstanding of the situation. It is absolutely clear that in 1988-1989 people came to the leadership of the majority of party organizations in the CPSU, not only “poisoned” by the dogmas of Marxism, but very far from both Marxism and socialism. As a result, the restructuring of socialism turned into a departure from it. For the same reason, in September 1991, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union died quietly.
PERSONNEL LINKS. ARCHITECT OF REBUILDING
The main credo of Gorbachev's personnel policy was the placement of trusted and controlled supporters in key positions, which created personnel links. Pushing through the appointment of such people, Mikhail Sergeevich demonstrated truly "steel teeth", about which the Patriarch of the Politburo Andrei Gromyko once said.
USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and US Secretary of State J. Schultz
A vivid evidence of this is the situation with the appointment of Eduard Shevardnadze, who was tongue-tied and spoke poorly Russian, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR on July 1, 1985. However, in his memoirs "Life and Reforms" Gorbachev states without a shadow of embarrassment: "Eduard Shevardnadze is undoubtedly an outstanding personality, a mature politician, educated, erudite."
The damage done by the Gorbachev-Shevardnadze link to the Soviet Union and, accordingly, Russia is best illustrated by a quote from the memoirs of former US President George W. Bush:
“We ourselves did not understand such a policy of the Soviet leadership. We were ready to give guarantees that the countries of Eastern Europe would never join NATO, and to forgive many billions of dollars in debt, but Shevardnadze did not even bargain and agreed with everything without preconditions. The same is on the border with Alaska (we are talking about the delimitation of sea spaces in the Bering and Chukchi Seas), where we did not count on anything. It was a gift from God."
Yegor Ligachev, famous for his phrase about Yeltsin: "Boris, you're wrong!"
No less scandalous is the situation with the appointment of Gennady Yanayev to the post of vice-president. Gorbachev, together with Lukyanov, actually raped the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (December 1990), pushing for this candidacy. In the end, from the second call, the deputies voted for "a mature politician who is able to participate in the discussion and adoption of important decisions on a national scale." This is how Gorbachev described his candidate Gennady Yanayev for the post of vice-president of the USSR.
I knew Yanayev quite well, and visited his Kremlin office more than once. He was a decent and kind person, completely devoid of the Kremlin bureaucratic fanaticism, but not a vice president, which was confirmed by the events of August 1991. Apparently, for this reason, Mikhail Sergeevich needed Yanaev so much.
In addition, Gorbachev was aware of Yanaev's delicate problem: his hands were constantly shaking. Even in the first meeting with Gennady Ivanovich, I noticed how he took cigarettes with trembling hands and lit a cigarette. In the office we were one-on-one, so Yanaev had no reason to worry.
So trembling hands, ostensibly from fear, at the press conference on August 19, 1991, are a myth of journalists. Apparently, this personal aspect also led to Gorbachev's stubborn desire to see Yanayev as vice president. As a result, Mikhail Sergeevich managed to create a very necessary staffing line for himself Gorbachev - Yanaev.
In addition to the above, Mikhail Sergeevich managed to create the following personnel lines: Gorbachev - Yakovlev, Gorbachev - Ryzhkov, Gorbachev - Lukyanov, Gorbachev - Yazov, Gorbachev - Kryuchkov, Gorbachev - Razumovsky, Gorbachev - Bakatin.
The central link was Gorbachev - Yakovlev. True, it was Yakovlev, not Gorbachev, who created it, during his stay on an official visit to Canada in 1983. Let's talk about it in more detail.
USSR KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov
It is known that it was Yakovlev who inspired the most important ideas of disastrous perestroika to Mikhail Sergeevich. It is no coincidence that he was called “the architect of perestroika” behind his back.
Yakovlev managed to convince Gorbachev that socialism is futile. He also threw in the idea of the priority of universal human values. And he also helped Mikhail Sergeevich furnish himself with "the right people."
It is no secret that Yakovlev was the one who insisted on the appointment of Dmitry Yazov as the Minister of Defense of the USSR, and Vladimir Kryuchkov as the Chairman of the KGB.
Being a good psychologist, Yakovlev felt that with all the positive characteristics, the diligence of these two will always prevail over initiative and independence. This later played a fatal role in the fate of the USSR.
In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta (October 10, 1998), Genne Kirkpatrick, former adviser to Reagan on defense and foreign intelligence, spoke about Yakovlev's real contribution to the collapse of the USSR. When asked about the role of personalities in the history and politics of the twentieth century, along with such figures as Churchill, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Truman, Stalin, she named Yakovlev.
The surprised journalist asked: “Why Yakovlev? Have you met him? " There was an ambiguous answer: “A couple of times. I think he is a very interesting person and played a huge and important role. I hope he knows that I think so."
Comments are superfluous, especially if we recall the statement of Yuri Drozdov, the former head of the "C" Department of the KGB of the USSR (illegal intelligence), made by him to the correspondent of "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" (August 31, 2007): "Several years ago, a former American intelligence officer whom I knew well, Arriving in Moscow, over dinner at a restaurant on Ostozhenka, he threw the following phrase: “You are good guys. We know you have had successes that you can be proud of. But time will pass, and you will gasp if it is declassified what kind of agents the CIA and the State Department had at your top."
PERSONNEL LINKS-2
Special mention should be made of the Gorbachev - Ryzhkov link. The Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov is an excellent specialist and a person with a heightened sense of decency and responsibility, which did not allow him to properly resist Gorbachev.
They started talking about him as a leader in July 1989, when Ryzhkov declared at a meeting of party officials in the Kremlin: "The party is in danger!" Therefore, when at the extraordinary III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR (March 1990) the issue of electing a president was raised, a number of deputies asked him to nominate their candidacy.
This is how the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Vitaly Vorotnikov describes this situation: “The situation developed in such a way that if the prime minister had not withdrawn his candidacy, Gorbachev would undoubtedly have been defeated in a normal vote. However, as you know, Nikolai Ivanovich never found the courage to cross the invisible line that separates the highest-ranking official from the real party leader. Thus, he presented Gorbachev with the post of President of the USSR."
I want to clarify. In my opinion, and I talked a lot with Nikolai Ivanovich, the main role in Ryzhkov's refusal to run for president was played not by lack of courage, but by the decency I mentioned above. Ryzhkov considered it dishonorable to substitute a leg for a colleague. Gorbachev was counting on this.
But it was not only Ryzhkov's position that gave Gorbachev the presidency. The decisive role here was played by the Gorbachev - Lukyanov combination. Anatoly Ivanovich chaired a meeting of the III Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, which approved an addition to the Constitution on the establishment of the post of President of the USSR. The head of state was to be elected by citizens by direct and secret ballot. But at that time it was already clear that Gorbachev's chances of becoming "popularly elected" were extremely small.
Lukyanov managed to push through with a negligible 46 votes the decision that the first elections, as an exception, be held by the Congress of People's Deputies. M. Gorbachev, N. Ryzhkov and V. Bakatin were nominated as candidates. However, the last two candidates recused themselves. As a result, Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR. This is what it means to put the right person in the right position. This skill could not be taken away from Gorbachev.
A few words about the Gorbachev - Razumovsky link. Georgy Razumovsky in May 1985 headed the Department of Organizational and Party Work of the Central Committee, replacing Ligachev in this post. A year later, he acquired the status of secretary of the Central Committee.
The regulation and ostentatiousness in the work of the country's party organizations under Razumovsky has increased significantly. It was he who was responsible for the separatist sentiments that emerged in the Lithuanian Communist Party in 1988.
The fact is that on the eve of the 19th party conference, Gorbachev called for the development of intraparty democracy and glasnost. But at the same time, from the organizational department of the Central Committee, which was headed by Razumovsky, went to the places, including the Communist Party of Lithuania, a rigid order of which delegates should be elected. This caused a wave of indignation not only in the Communist Party of Lithuania, but also in the republic.
The protest moods of the Lithuanian communists largely contributed to the creation and development of "Sayudis" in Lithuania. In the future, the situation was aggravated by the complete disregard by the organizational department of the CPSU Central Committee of the critical remarks made by the Lithuanian communists during the 1988 election campaign.
As a result, on January 19, 1989, the plenum of the Vilnius City Party Committee was forced to reapply to Razumovsky regarding the criticisms sent from the republic after the election campaign. However, there was no answer this time either.
Then the topic of the independence of the Lithuanian Communist Party was put on the agenda in the Lithuanian media. As a result of this discussion, to which the Central Committee of the CPSU also did not react, the XX Congress of the Communist Party of Lithuania (December 1989) announced the party's withdrawal from the CPSU. Well, on March 11, 1990, Lithuania announced its withdrawal from the USSR.
In this regard, let me remind you that Gorbachev constantly repeated about the old party bureaucratic apparatus, which supposedly lay like a “dam” on the path of perestroika. It is clear that this was verbiage, because in fact such a “dam” was the Gorbachev - Razumovsky and their entourage.
Cover of Vadim Bakatin's book with the characteristic title "Getting Rid of the KGB"
I will add that, according to the Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats, the former candidate for membership in the Politburo of the Central Committee, Razumovsky, received a monthly salary from the structures of Mikhail Khodorkovsky at least until 2001. Apparently, there was a reason.
The Gorbachev-Bakatin link caused serious damage to the country.
In October 1988, Vadim Bakatin, the former first secretary of the Kemerovo regional party committee, was appointed to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. It would seem that the change is insignificant. The former first secretary of the Rostov regional committee of the CPSU, Vlasov, was replaced by the first secretary of another regional committee, Bakatin. But this is only at first glance.
As a rule, Bakatin's personality is associated with the defeat of the Committee. However, his role there was insignificant. In August 1991, the KGB was already doomed, and Bakatin only followed the instructions of the puppeteers to "finish off" him. The role of Vadim Viktorovich in the collapse of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs is of much greater interest.
Offering Bakatin the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, Gorbachev stressed: “I do not need ministers-policemen. I need politicians. " Bakatin "brilliantly" coped with the role of a politician from the police. In two years of work, he inflicted irreparable damage on the Soviet militia.
The minister issued an order, according to which police officers were given the right to work part-time in other organizations. As a result, this led not only to corruption and the merger of law enforcement agencies with the criminogenic contingent, but also to the departure of the main professional core of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to commercial structures. This was the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet law enforcement system.
An equally painful blow to this system was struck by another order of Bakatin - on the liquidation of the agent police apparatus. Policemen all over the world considered and still consider these agents with their own eyes and ears in the criminal world. Even amateurs know this.
Russia is still going through the consequences of the aforementioned orders of Bakatin. Towards the end of his rule, Vadim Viktorovich dealt another fatal blow to the Soviet law enforcement system. He prepared its actual dismemberment into fifteen national republican departments.
Let me give you an example. In 1990, after Lithuania declared independence, the republican Ministry of Internal Affairs not only did not obey the union ministry, but also took hostile positions in resolving controversial issues.
Nevertheless, Bakatin gave a personal instruction that the Ministry of Internal Affairs should finance the Ministry of Internal Affairs of independent Lithuania, provide it with modern equipment and help create a police academy in Vilnius, which, by the way, educated personnel in an anti-Soviet and anti-Russian spirit. Bakatin considered this a "constructive step" in relations between the USSR and independent Lithuania.
POLITBURO. THE DEATH OF THE SOVIET GENERALITY
Special mention should be made of the role of the Politburo of the Central Committee under Gorbachev. It was designed to provide collective leadership for the party and the country. However, it turned into a handy tool for blessing the destructive decisions of the new General Secretary.
Solving this problem, Mikhail Sergeevich already in April 1985 began to change the balance of forces in the Politburo of the Central Committee. First of all, all opponents of Gorbachev were removed from PB: Romanov, Tikhonov, Shcherbitsky, Grishin, Kunaev, Aliev. In their place, the first to come were those who took an active part in the operation to elect him as General Secretary: E. Ligachev, N. Ryzhkov and V. Chebrikov.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Sokolov, dismissed after the "Rust case"
In total, during his reign, Gorbachev changed three members of the Politburo of the Central Committee, each of which was much weaker than the previous one. He immediately felt like a master. According to Valery Boldin, a former long-term assistant and in fact the “right hand” of Mikhail Sergeevich, he “became completely intolerant of any criticism addressed to him … out the door (Kommersant-Vlast, May 15, 2001).
Here's how! However, the PB members took this trick of the new Secretary General for granted. The old party apparatus was brought up in very strict traditions.
Special mention should be made of the meeting at which Gorbachev dealt with the generals. The time for the "departure" of PB candidate Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Sokolov came when Gorbachev realized that his unilateral "peacekeeping policy" was being hindered by the military led by the uncompromising defense minister. It is known that Sokolov and his entourage were opposed to the signing of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Missiles (INF).
Then a grandiose action was conceived to renew the Soviet generals. An incident that occurred in May 1941 was used as an example. Then the German military transport aircraft "Junkers-52", checking the Soviet air defense system, having freely flown over 1200 kilometers, landed at the Tushino airfield in Moscow. As a result, the Soviet military command and, above all, the air force, was covered by a wave of repressions, and almost everything was replaced.
On May 28, 1987, on the Day of the Border Guard, a Cessna-172 Skyhawk sports plane landed on Vasilyevsky Spusk near Red Square, at the helm of which was a German amateur pilot Matias Rust. Gorbachev, having arrived in the evening of that day from Romania, held a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee right in the government hall "Vnukovo-2". On it, Marshal Sokolov was dismissed, and Yazov was immediately appointed minister, who turned out to be very helpful at the airport.
On May 30 of the same year, the PB meeting on Rust took place in the Kremlin. The tone was set by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Ryzhkov, who demanded the immediate removal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force and the Minister of Defense. Well, then everything went on a knurled one. Yakovlev, Ligachev, Gorbachev spoke: resign, remove, punish.
Matthias Rust on Vasilievsky Spusk shortly after landing
Surprisingly, no one remembered that after the scandalous situation in September 1983 with the South Korean Boeing, the USSR signed an addendum to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which categorically prohibited the shooting down of civilian aircraft.
No one touched on the question of why the plane, after crossing the border for 3 hours and 20 minutes, disappeared from the radar screens and landed with sufficiently full tanks. KGB Chairman V. M. Chebrikov did not say a word about the allegedly cut trolleybus wires on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge while waiting for Rust, and professional television cameras were installed on Red Square.
According to the operational duty officer of the Moscow Air Defense District, Major General Vladimir Reznichenko, at the very moment when Rust's plane flew up to Moscow with a tailwind, an order was unexpectedly received from the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Defense Forces to turn off the automated air defense control system for preventive maintenance.
The plane on which M. Rust flew, in the Berlin Technical Museum
One of the most vulnerable spots of air defense is the border between location zones. According to General I. Maltsev: "The target was lost, because the continuous radar field was only in a narrow strip along the border, then there were dead zones, and for some reason Rust chose them for the flight."
The question is, how could a German amateur pilot know about the boundaries of such "dead zones"? According to the Chief of Staff of the Tallinn Air Defense Division, Colonel V. Tishevsky, the air defense system of that time had the following rule: every 24 hours, the boundaries of such zones were changed. However, on May 27, such a command did not arrive, so on May 28 the boundaries of the location zones established the day before continued to operate.
It turns out that Rust knew about the boundaries of the "dead" zones. Information could only be obtained from the USSR. The question is: through whom? Rust allegedly landed in the area of Staraya Russa (AiF, No. 31, July 2013).
M. Rust during the trial.
The newspaper quotes the author of the Moment of Truth TV program Andrei Karaulov: “I ask Rust:“Do you want me to show you a photo of how your plane is refueled?” Rust did not answer, remained silent, he was not interested in looking at the photographs, only his eyes were running around …"
By the way, this version appeared almost immediately, as soon as Rust was arrested. Journalist M. Timm from the German magazine Bunde drew attention to two facts. Firstly, Rust flew out in a green shirt and jeans, and in Moscow he got off the plane in a red overalls. Secondly, in Helsinki, only the sign of the Hamburg flying club appeared on board his plane, while in Moscow people could see the image of a crossed out atomic bomb pasted onto the tail stabilizer.
An intermediate landing was needed to mislead the radio engineering units of the air defense forces: to disappear from the radar screens, and then take off again, turning from a "border trespasser" into a domestic "flight mode violator".
No one at the Politburo of the Central Committee raised the question that Rust followed a surprisingly clear route, as if knowing how the air defense system of the northwestern direction of the USSR was built. It is known that in March 1987, Marshal Sokolov left the General Secretary with maps of the country's air defense in this particular direction.
As the former commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, General of the Army Pyotr Deinekin, later argued, “there is no doubt that Rust’s flight was a carefully planned provocation of the Western special services. And, most importantly, it was carried out with the consent and knowledge of individuals from the then leadership of the Soviet Union."
“In the Rust case, it is necessary to carefully separate real facts from exaggerated sensations,” says Pavel Yevdokimov, editor-in-chief of the Spetsnaz Rossii newspaper. - So, for example, at the suggestion of Andrey Karaulov, the version about trolleybus wires, which had been removed in advance in the Cessna landing area, was widely circulated.
However, everything was exactly the opposite: new ones appeared! After. When the investigator Oleg Dobrovolsky got acquainted with the photographs from the scene of the emergency, he asked Rust in amazement: "Tell me, Matthias, how could you even land a plane on the bridge?.." middle and end. They began to find out … And it turned out that in a day or two, at the direction of the leadership of the Moscow City Executive Committee, wires appeared every twenty meters.
Another thing is how Rust was able to overcome what was? In criminal case No. 136 of the Investigative Department of the KGB of the USSR, the answer of a witness, a traffic policeman SA Chinikhin, was recorded: “If you don’t know where there are stretch marks on the bridge, you must assume that there was a chance of a catastrophe”.
One of two things: either we are dealing with a certain "secret operation" multiplied by favorable accidents, or all that happened was a truly amazing combination of circumstances that allowed Rust to fly to Moscow.
The same Karaulov speaks of the presence of a photograph of the Cessna refueling near Staraya Russa. OK! Then why hasn't it been published yet? It seems that Karaulov was simply taking Rust at gunpoint to see his reaction.
Be that as it may, in May 1987, Gorbachev could present the case in such a way that the Soviet Armed Forces led, they say, the violator along the entire route of his movement, from the border, and did not shoot down solely because of humanism and goodwill - in the spirit of Perestroika, Glasnost and Democratization. And the international resonance from such a noble position would be enormous! However, Gorbachev acted completely differently,”concludes Pavel Evdokimov.
The analysis at the Politburo of the Central Committee of the scandalous flight of Rust ended with the displacement of almost the entire top of the Armed Forces of the USSR. “One afternoon, in early June,” recalled Ligachev’s assistant V. Legostaev, “in my office, as usual, unexpectedly, Yakovlev appeared. By that time, he had already become a member of the Politburo, close to the general secretary. AN's broad, roughly drawn face shone with a triumphant smile. He was in a frankly upbeat, almost festive mood. Right from the doorway, triumphantly holding out his palms in front of him, he blurted out: “Vo! All hands are covered in blood! Elbows!"
From the subsequent excited explanations, it turned out that my guest was returning from a regular Politburo meeting, at which a personnel showdown was being held in connection with the Rust case. It was decided to remove a number of top Soviet military leaders from their posts. The results of this meeting brought Yakovlev into such an ecstatic and victorious state. His hands were "in the blood" of the defeated adversaries."
December 8, 1987 M. Gorbachev and R. Reagan freely signed the INF Treaty, which today is considered the actual surrender of the USSR to the United States.
ANTI-ALCOHOL POLITICAL BUREAU
The next Politburo of the Central Committee, which deserves attention, concerns the results of the well-known anti-alcohol campaign initiated by Gorbachev in May 1985. Discussion of these results took place on December 24, 1987. They discussed the note of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR Vorotnikov "On the consequences of the anti-alcohol campaign in the RSFSR". The facts there were devastating. But Gorbachev stood his ground: “The decision was correct. We will not change our principled position”. And everyone once again agreed with the General Secretary.
But Gorbachev turned out to be crafty. In 1995, he published the book "Life and Reforms", in which he called one chapter "Anti-alcohol campaign: a noble intention, a deplorable outcome." In it, the arrows of responsibility for the failure, he transferred to the secretary of the Central Committee Yegor Ligachev and the chairman of the Party Control Committee Mikhail Solomentsev. Supposedly it was they who “brought everything to the point of absurdity. They demanded that local party leaders, ministers, business executives "overfulfill" the plan to reduce alcohol production and replace it with lemonade."
However, the former Minister of Finance of the USSR, and later Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Valentin Pavlov, revealed the exact calculation and intent that Gorbachev and Yakovlev laid on the anti-alcohol campaign: to create mafia structures and enrich them. The results of the campaign in the USSR were not long in coming in exact accordance with world experience. Gorbachev and Yakovlev could not have been unaware of this experience, but they were solving another problem and were apparently ready to pay any price for its successful solution."
There is no doubt that the "fathers" of perestroika were in a hurry to create a social base in the USSR for the restoration of capitalism. And they found it in the face of the shadow mafia-criminal business. According to various estimates, the state has lost up to 200 billion rubles in the fight against alcoholism. The "shadow companies" put the lion's share of this amount into their pockets. And Mikhail Sergeevich had been friends with the "shadow workers" since the Stavropol times.
The second part of the social base of capitalist restoration was made up of the party, Soviet, and especially the economic nomenclature. Fertile conditions were also created for its successful growth into capitalism. This was facilitated by the adopted laws on state-owned enterprises, cooperation and foreign economic activity.
As a result, most Soviet directors were able to lay the foundation of personal well-being on the wreckage of their enterprises with the help of cooperatives, which they generously shared with the party and Soviet nomenklatura. This is how the class of owners of democratic Russia was formed. And his fathers should be considered not only Gaidar and Chubais, but above all Gorbachev and Yakovlev.
Let's finish the story about the strange August GKChP. Today, when everyone witnessed the coup d'état that took place in Kiev, where power passed to the Maidan militants, it became clear that not only the blatant corruption of Ukrainian officials, but, above all, the weakness of the government, provoked the militants into lawlessness.
The events in Kiev again resembled the events in Moscow in August 1991. The indecision and uncertainty of the position of the GKChPists, headed by the Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, Vladimir Kryuchkov, led to the defeat of the GKChP.
By the way, the hekachepists could count on the support of the majority of the population of the USSR. I would like to remind you that in March 1991, 70% of the population of the Union of the Indestructible spoke in favor of preserving a single state.
ARREST YELTSIN. "WAIT FOR THE TEAM!"
As you know, the special group "A" of the KGB of the USSR, headed by the Hero of the Soviet Union V. F. But the order to isolate Yeltsin, despite repeated telephone inquiries from the commander of Group A, was never followed.
In this regard, I will quote a direct participant in those events - President of the International Association of Veterans of the Anti-Terror Unit "Alpha", Deputy of the Moscow City Duma Sergei Goncharov:
“Karpukhin informed the headquarters that we were on the spot and were ready to carry out the order. A command followed, and I heard it clearly: "Wait for instructions!" It was beginning to get light. I say to Karpukhin: “Fedoritch! You report to headquarters - dawn is coming soon. " Again the command: “Wait! Contact us later. " Our commander took responsibility: "Why wait for something!" And we relocated to a village near Arkhangelskoye.
The mushroom pickers went … People, seeing the fighters in an unusual form - in the "spheres" and with weapons in their hands, were frightened and began to shy away from us, return home.
As I understand it, the information reached Korzhakov. I say: “Fedoritch, call again! Everyone understands that we have already been deciphered! " Karpukhin goes to the leadership. A new order is formulated for him: "Move forward to the position of option No. 2" - this is by capturing at the moment of advancement. We take pictures of the guys, get back into the cars and move two kilometers, we begin to disguise ourselves. But how can so many armed people do this? The villagers looked at us with obvious apprehension, did not even go out to fetch water …
Hero of the Soviet Union Viktor Fedorovich Karpukhin (1947-2003). It was he, as the commander of Group A of the KGB of the USSR, who was waiting for the order to arrest Boris Yeltsin. And did not receive it.
OK. We worked out the operation, how to block the advance, and Karpukhin reported on readiness. It was 6 o'clock - it was light, everything was visible, a stream of cars was going to Moscow. From the headquarters again: "Wait for instructions, there will be an order!"
By 7 o'clock, service vehicles with guards began to arrive at Arkhangelskoye. We see some big ranks. Okay, sent our intelligence. It turns out that these are Khasbulatov, Poltoranin and someone else. We report. To us again: "Wait for instructions!" Everything! We do not understand what they want from us and how to carry out the operation!
Somewhere around 8 am the scouts report: “The column - two armored ZILs, two Volgas with the guards of Yeltsin and the persons who arrived there are moving out onto the highway. Get ready for the operation! " Karpukhin calls the headquarters once again and hears: "Wait for the command!" - "What to expect, the column will pass in five minutes!" - "Wait for the team!" When we have already seen them, Fedoritch again pulls off the receiver. To him again: "Wait for the command!"
The command was never received. Why? The GKChP activists, including Kryuchkov, did not give a clear answer to this question. Obviously, none of its organizers dared to take responsibility. There was no man of the caliber of Valentin Ivanovich Varennikov, but he was in Kiev and could not influence the course of events.
Or maybe there was some kind of difficult double or triple game going on. I don't know, it's hard for me to judge … The last head of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Anatoly Lukyanov, reported in an interview with the Russian press that the State Emergency Committee was created at a meeting with Gorbachev on March 28, 1991. And Gennady Yanaev said that the GKChP documents were developed on behalf of the same Gorbachev.
After Yeltsin's motorcade passed us at high speed, Karpukhin picks up the phone: "What to do now?" - "Wait, we'll call you back!" Literally five minutes later: “Take some of your officers under the protection of Arkhangelskoye. - "Why?!" - “Do what you have been told! The rest - to the subdivision!"
The time when the GKChP could win was wasted. Yeltsin was given precious time to mobilize his supporters and take action. At 10 or 11 o'clock we returned to N-sky lane, to the place of permanent deployment. And on the Central Television, instead of the programs announced in the broadcast schedule, they showed "Swan Lake". The tragedy of the state turned into a farce”.
… Then the whole situation fell apart like a house of cards. Yeltsin, having climbed onto a tank near the White House, declared the actions of the State Emergency Committee unconstitutional. In the evening, a news release went on television, in which information was announced that put the final point on the State Emergency Committee. The disastrous press conference held by the gekachepists also played a role.
In a word, it turned out not to be a GKChP, but almost a madhouse. In fact, there was a repetition of the January situation in Vilnius in 1991. Meanwhile, it is known that the KGB always carefully prepared its operations. Let us recall at least the first phase of the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan, for which the Chekists were responsible. Everything was calculated to minutes.
However, much becomes apparent when it turns out that the two "irreconcilable enemies", Gorbachev and Yeltsin, actually worked in one bundle. This "Komsomolskaya Pravda" (August 18, 2011) said the former Minister of Press and Information of Russia Mikhail Poltoranin. Apparently, the head of the KGB knew or guessed about this link, which determined the strange duality of his behavior. Moreover, V. Kryuchkov, judging by his conversation with the head of the PGU (intelligence) of the KGB, Leonid Vladimirovich Shebarshin, back in June 1990 decided to stake on Yeltsin.
At the same time, Vladimir Alexandrovich could not get rid of the feeling of personal duty to Gorbachev. As a result, his behavior was a vivid example of adherence to the principle of "ours and yours." But in politics, this duality of position is usually punished. Which is exactly what happened.
PRINCE SHCHERBATOV'S CERTIFICATE
Boris Yeltsin, who played a subordinate role in the "bundle", realized that the "putsch" gave him a rare opportunity to end Gorbachev. Unfortunately, Boris Nikolaevich, trying to throw Mikhail Sergeevich out of big politics, at the same time, without regret, said goodbye to the Union.
And again, we should recall the treacherous behavior of Gorbachev in a situation when Yeltsin, Kravchuk and Shushkevich, having gathered in Viskuli, announced the termination of the activities of the USSR as an international entity.
This is now being said about the legitimacy of the statement adopted by the Troika. And then the conspirators knew perfectly well that they were committing a crime and met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha in order, in extreme cases, to go on foot to Poland.
It is known that after Viskulya, Yeltsin was afraid to appear in the Kremlin to Gorbachev. He was sure that he would give the order to arrest him, but … Mikhail Sergeyevich preferred to let the situation take its course. He was satisfied with the situation of the collapse of the USSR, since in this case the likelihood of bringing him to justice for the crimes committed disappeared.
Sworn enemies Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, however, fulfilled a common role in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Earlier, I wrote that during this period Gorbachev was not thinking about how to preserve the Union, but about how to provide himself with a deficit for the future: food, drinks and housing. It is no coincidence that the long-term head of Mikhail Sergeevich's security, KGB General Vladimir Timofeevich Medvedev, aptly emphasized that Gorbachev's main ideology was the ideology of self-survival.
Unfortunately, then many of the Soviet political and military elite tried to secure a material reserve for the future. In this regard, it should be told about how in 1991 the Americans bought up the Soviet elite in the bud, helping Yeltsin to come to power. I will cite the testimony of Prince Alexei Pavlovich Shcherbatov (1910-2003) from the Rurik family, president of the Union of Russian Nobles of North and South America.
On the day of the "putsch" Shcherbatov flew to Moscow from the United States to participate in the congress of compatriots. The prince outlined his impressions of this trip
in a memoir entitled “A Quite Recent History. First trip to Russia”.
By the will of fate, Shcherbatov found himself in the thick of the events of August 1991. He, as an influential American citizen, had direct access to the US Ambassador to the USSR, Robert Strauss, who was a very informed person. The prince, who remained a Russian patriot at heart, was acutely worried about the events of August 1991. Therefore, he was interested in everything connected with them.
In an article published by the popular Orthodox newspaper "Vera" - "Eskom" (No. 520), Prince Shcherbatov said: "… I tried to find out more details of the preparations for the coup. And in a few days he clarified something for himself: the Americans, the CIA spent money through their ambassador to Russia, Robert Strauss, using his connections to bribe the military: the Taman and Dzerzhinsk airborne divisions, which were supposed to go over to Yeltsin's side. Big money was received by the son of Marshal Shaposhnikov, Minister of War Grachev.
Shaposhnikov now has an estate in the south of France, a house in Switzerland. I heard from George Bailey, an old friend of mine who worked for the CIA for many years, that the amount allocated to the USSR was more than one billion dollars. Few people knew that in 1991 special planes under the guise of diplomatic cargo delivered money to Sheremetyevo airport, they were handed out in packs of 10, 20, 50 banknotes to government leaders and the military. These people were later able to participate in privatization. Today this is a well-known fact.
Former delegates to the Shatagua conference took part in the coup: General Chervov helped distribute money among the military, one of the directors of Banks Trust Company, John Crystal, as I learned, channeled the sums received from the CIA through his bank. It turned out that if Soviet officials were given good bribes, then it would not be difficult to destroy the Soviet Union.”
It remains to add that the conversation of the journalist with Prince Shcherbatov, who was called "the man-legend of Russian history", took place in New York, in a house in Manhattan, in the summer of 2003.
Betrayal of SHEVARDNADZE
Treason has long settled in the Kremlin. On February 14, 2014, the Russia 1 TV channel showed a film by journalist Andrei Kondrashov, "Afghan". In it, one of the relatives of the well-known leader of the Mujahideen, Ahmad Shah Massoud, said that most of the military operations of the Soviet troops against the Mujahideen ended in nothing, since Massoud received timely information from Moscow about the timing of these operations.
NATO has always accepted Eduard Shevardnadze, M. Gorbachev's closest associate, as a dear guest. Until they were released
Another fact of the apparent betrayal of the Soviet leaders was voiced in the film. It is known that before the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, an agreement was reached with the same Ahmad Shah Massoud on a mutual ceasefire. However, at the insistence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduard Shevardnadze and at the direction of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Gorbachev, Soviet troops on January 23-26, 1989, launched a series of massive missile and air strikes on areas under the control of Akhmad Shah Massoud. This was not only a treacherous decision by the Kremlin, but also a war crime.
In this regard, the Republic of Afghanistan has all the legal grounds for declaring M. Gorbachev and E. Shevardnadze as war criminals, and can also demand their extradition for criminal proceedings against them.
Shevardnadze has shown himself not only in Afghanistan. It is known that in April 1989 Shevardnadze spoke at the Politburo of the Central Committee for the immediate restoration of order in the demonstration in Tbilisi and the prosecution of the leader of the Georgian opposition, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. However, having appeared in Tbilisi on April 9, 1990, after the well-known tragic events, it was Shevardnadze who began to voice the version about the inadequacy of the military actions when dispersing the protesters, while emphasizing the use of sapper shovels by the paratroopers - which, as the film filmed by the KGB operators testified, only covered their faces from flying stones and bottles.
I remember that in March 1990, at the meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, dedicated to Lithuania's secession from the USSR, Shevardnadze was one of those who demanded the most decisive measures against the Lithuanian separatists and the return of constitutional order in the republic. But in fact, he and A. Yakovlev constantly supplied Landsbergis with information.
On June 1, 1990, Shevardnadze committed an act of high treason. While on a visit to Washington, as USSR Foreign Minister, together with US Secretary of State J. Baker, he signed an agreement under which the United States "acquired" more than 47 thousand square kilometers of the Bering Sea, rich in fish and hydrocarbons, free of charge.
There is no doubt that Gorbachev was informed about this deal. Otherwise, Shevardnadze in Moscow would not have been well. Otherwise, how to understand that Gorbachev blocked any actions to recognize this "deal" as illegal. The Americans, knowing in advance about such a reaction from the head of the USSR, promptly took control of the area. It must be assumed that the remuneration of Shevardnadze and Gorbachev for this "service" was expressed in an extremely substantial amount.
Undoubtedly, Kryuchkov knew about this dubious deal, but he did not dare to publicly declare the betrayal of Gorbachev and Shevardnadze. Well, these two got the money, but why was he silent? By the way, in modern Russia there is also a "conspiracy of silence" around this event.
In recent years, the United States has been using the practice of bribery of the national elites of the "independent" states very intensively and effectively. Iraq, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt … The last example is Ukraine.
Russian political scientist Marat Musin said that Yanukovych's vague position on the rampant Maidan determined the desire of the Ukrainian president to preserve the billion greenbacks he kept in the United States. Futile hopes. In the United States, the money of the Iranian Shah M. Reza Pahlavi, the President of the Philippines F. Marcos, the President of Iraq S. Hussein, the President of Egypt H. Mubarek and other former "friends" of America have disappeared into oblivion.
The circle of the Ukrainian president also managed to make good money. Most of them have already departed with their households from Kiev to their "alternate airfields", similar to those that our "Russian jingoistic patriot" Yuri Luzhkov had previously created for himself in Austria and London.
There is no doubt that a significant part of the Russian ruling elite, in the event of an aggravation of the situation in the country, will also follow the example of their Ukrainian “colleagues”. Fortunately, their "alternate airfields" have long been ready.
THIRTY SILVER'S GORBACHEVA
Mikhail Sergeevich also won a good jackpot for his betrayal. How this was done was told in 2007 to the Izvestia newspaper by Paul Craig Roberts, an American economist and publicist, a former assistant to the Treasury Secretary in the Reagan government.
He remembered the time when his supervisor was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Affairs (then Secretary of State Melvin Laird). Taking this opportunity, Roberts asked him how the United States makes other countries dance to its tune. The answer was simple: “We give their leaders money. We buy their leaders."
Roberts named former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as an example. As soon as he left office, he was appointed advisor to financial corporations with a salary of 5 million pounds. In addition, the United States gave him a series of speeches - for each Blair received from 100 to 250 thousand dollars. It is known that the US State Department organized a similar program for ex-President Gorbachev.
Nevertheless, Mikhail Sergeevich, explaining his participation in advertising campaigns, refers to the lack of funds, which he then allegedly sends to finance the Gorbachev Fund. Maybe, maybe … However, it is known what considerable compensation Gorbachev received from Yeltsin for his “non-conflict” withdrawal from the Kremlin.
It is also known that in September 2008, Mikhail Sergeevich received the Freedom Medal from the United States for the "end of the Cold War." The medal was accompanied by USD 100 thousand. To this should be added the Nobel Peace Prize, which R. Reagan "procured" for Gorbachev in 1990. However, without a doubt, this is only a known part of the material prosperity that the United States provided to the former president of the USSR.
It is known that in 2007 Gorbachev acquired an impressive castle in Bavaria, where he lives with his household. "Castle Hubertus", where a Bavarian orphanage was previously located in two large buildings, is registered in the name of her daughter, Irina Virganskaya.
In addition, Mikhail Sergeevich owns or uses two villas abroad. One is in San Francisco, the other is in Spain (next to the villa of the singer V. Leontiev). He also has real estate in Russia - a dacha in the Moscow region ("Moscow River 5") with a plot of 68 hectares.
The financial capabilities of the former president of the USSR are evidenced by the "modest" wedding of his granddaughter Ksenia, which took place in May 2003. It took place in the Moscow fashionable restaurant "Gostiny Dvor", which was cordoned off by police. The food at the wedding was, as the media wrote, "no frills."
Medallions of goose liver (foie gras) and figs, black caviar on an ice base with warm pancakes, chicken with mushrooms in a thin puff pastry were served on the cold. In addition, the guests indulged in fried hazel grouse and elk lips. The highlight of the gastronomic program was a three-tiered snow-white cake one and a half meters high.
There is no doubt that in the foreseeable future Gorbachev will be able to organize more than one such celebration for his granddaughters. Unfortunately, lifetime retaliation, apparently, will pass him by. But besides the human judgment, there is another Court, which sooner or later will pay tribute to this greatest of traitors - Herostratus of the 20th century. And the US State Department will no longer help there.
