Soldiers

Though the defence of the White House fell to the people, their actions were less a direct threat to the State Emergency Committee, than an obstacle which would have to be dealt with in the course of establishing power. The Emergency Committee were relying on the presence of the army on the streets and the threat of Police and KGB special forces in reserve, the Omon and Alpha Groups in particular, to establish their authority. However, their strategy had the exact opposite effect as their threat of the use of force was perceived both by Yeltsin's forces and the people of Moscow as a sign of insecurity and lack of confidence about their grip on power. Yeltsin, and even more so, his deputy, Vice-President Alexander Rutskoi, a hero of the Afghanistan War and Air Force Colonel, exploited this weakness to the full. They appealed directly to the officers' and soldiers' senses of responsibility and duty, demanding that they observe the constitution of the Russian Federation and avoid any action which could lead to civilian blood being spilt and the honour of the armed forces being sullied. Yeltsin issued an appeal to members of the armed forces reminding them of their responsibility to the people to whom they had sworn an oath of protection. (Appendix 12.) (document #7) While Alexander Rutskoi not only issued a similar appeal (Appendix 13.) (document #8) but personally spent a lot of time on the telephone convincing divisional and garrison commanders of the foolhardiness of the course of action being plotted for them by the Emergency Committee. As a result, allegiances within the armed forces were split.

Even at the level of the supreme command there were differences about whom to obey. These differences reached a critical point on the morning of the 21st when Dmitrii Yazov, a member of the State Emergency Committee, and in Gorbachev's absence de-facto supreme commander of the Soviet armed forces, walked out of a meeting with some of his top commanders at the Defence Ministry, effectively washing his hands of the whole affair and resigning himself to whatever fate awaited him. It was a turning point for the coup, since no matter what decisions the Emergency Committee might now take, they no longer had the undivided support of the armed forces necessary for implementing these decisions. Once the tanks began to leave town, news that the coup had collapsed spread rapidly throughout the city. At the White House buoyant crowds were celebrating. But there was a solemnity to their festivity as people pondered the magnitude of their victory. The army, KGB, Police and conservatives in the Party and Government had backed down. For the first time in Soviet history, anger and disillusion with the system had been translated into action even as the system, in the form of the Emergency Committee, sought to bolster its rule.

At the White House, the soldiers of the Taman Armoured Division were being feted as heroes. They had become instrumental in the defence of the White House when Major Yevdokimov led the ten tanks under his command over to Yeltsin's side on Monday afternoon. Yevdokimov's tanks were unarmed and could have offered no more than token resistance. Had there been an attack on the White House, they would have been crushed. But during the tense hours of the 19th and 20th their presence was a symbol which gave the people gathered at the White House hope that all was not lost. Now that the coup had collapsed the soldiers who had remained at their posts all three days could relax. They looked exhausted, sitting on their tanks, smoking. Out of respect, the volunteer defence units were preventing people from approaching too closely. The tanks themselves had slogans of defiance, 'Down with the Emergency Committee', 'Victory to Russia', etc., painted on their turrets. Their armour was strewn with flowers. People had placed religious icons on the armour and turrets and hung Russian flags from their radio aerials. There was a serenity to it all which would have been wrong to disturb. I did not try and talk with any of the soldiers at the time.

Two months later, the Taman Division returned to Moscow.

I was working late on the night of Thursday October 17 when I received an excited phone call from an acquaintance. Her friend had just phoned her saying reports were coming in of a column of tanks driving down Kutuzov Prospekt, heading towards the White House. It was close to midnight. At first I was sceptical. Then I decided that if the reports were true, it must be tanks moving camp. Though it did seem strange that they would be doing it in the middle of the night. But it just didn't seem possible that the nightmare of August the 19th could be repeating itself. About ten minutes later, the woman rang again, frantic this time. Her friend had confirmed it. The column had just driven past her window on Kutuzov Prospekt.

Five minutes later, a cameraman and I were driving down Kutuzov Prospekt past the White House on Kalinin Bridge searching for tanks. Nothing anywhere. The streets were practically deserted. We drove up and down a couple of times, then swung up Kalinin Prospekt and headed towards the Kremlin. There weren't even any of the dappled markings on the road which give away tank tracks. We drove back to the office. The cameraman went home. I waited. Sure enough, the woman rang a third time. This time, the tanks were already at the White House. Angry and frightened people were remonstrating with soldiers there. I rang the cameraman again. We headed down to the White House a second time. We found our tanks. T-72s parked on enormous low-slung loaders at the back of the White House. Pulled up beside them were a column of APCs and light armoured vehicles on loaders. Two guards were posted. Apart from two young men who were part of an encampment of people in tents at the back of the White House who had been keeping a 'democracy vigil' ever since the coup, and another camera crew who turned up just as we did, there was nobody else about. Kyle took out his camera and we went over and asked the guards for permission to shoot. They let us crawl all over the tanks and Kyle spent half an hour there getting shots. I asked the guards about the reports of angry civilians arguing with them, and pleading with them not to attempt another coup. They laughed, describing the consternation the tanks had caused, especially as the low-loaders carrying them drove down Kutuzov Prospekt. Drivers swung off the road and pulled up in disbelief. The soldiers could see their frightened faces, numbed at the shock of this armoured convoy advancing on the White House. People stood watching from the balconies and windows of the buildings lining the street, their faces registering different degrees of dismay. Then, when the convoy pulled up, a lot of people had come from nearby houses to see what was going on and had been very upset to see tanks. They thought it was a second coup and had started pleading with the soldiers to go home. It wasn't until the local police arrived and explained that the tanks had been brought there to make a film that the people calmed down and left.

A couple of days later I went down to the White House with my cassette recorder and spoke with the soldiers who had become famous because of the coup.

***

Sharafetdin (18 years old) and Sergei (19):

JJ: Your names?

SH: In Russian, Sasha.

JJ: But you're not Russian.

SH: No, Uzbek, in Uzbek, my name is Sharafetdin.

JJ: And you?

SE: Sergei.

JJ: Where were you during the coup?

SH: We were parked on Kalinin Bridge opposite the White House here.

JJ: Both of you?

SE: Yeah. We were on guard there, blocking the bridge, and the approaches to it.

JJ: And you're from the same tank?

SH: Yeah, yeah.

JJ: You're the driver?

SH: Uh huh.

SE: And I'm the commander.

JJ: How many are in the tank crew altogether?

SE: Three.

JJ: Commander, mechanic, driver?

SE: No, there's a gunner too. Commander, mechanic-driver, gunner.

JJ: When the coup began, what did they order you to do?

SH: Simply to come here and block the bridge.

SE: Defend the bridge. Stop any rioting.

JJ: But when the crowds started gathering, what did you make of it?

SE: At the time, we ourselves still didn't know what was going on.

JJ: What did you think was going on?

SE: We had been told that there was rioting in Moscow. We had heard that Gorbachev was sick and that some Emergency Committee was in charge. The whole division got ordered to come into Moscow. But once we got here we stopped and parked, and that was it. After that, we received no other orders, no one told us what to do.

JJ: But when you began to get an idea of what was happening, how did you feel?

SH: Anxious at first. Gradually we began to realise why we had been sent here and what we were meant to do. We realised that we had to keep things calm.

SE: Yeah, we figured something was going on, something had gone wrong, we didn't know whether the problem was Gorbachev, Yeltsin or this State Emergency Committee, but the people wouldn't have come out on the streets like this for nothing. So we didn't shoot, and didn't move against the people. And when they realised that we weren't going to shoot or attack them, but just defend them, they began to smile, laugh and started shouting: "Welcome soldiers". They did their best to look after us, bringing us food and drink. It was obvious that they were happy we were here.

JJ: You're a Russian, and you're Uzbek. Did you feel differently during those three days?

SE: We all felt like soldiers.

JJ: And when those three kids were killed...

SE: We heard about that later, after we got back to barracks.

JJ: What do you know about it?

SH: You have to understand, the situation down there in the tunnel was pretty tense. The people were also shooting at the soldiers for nothing. If they had left the soldiers alone, they wouldn't have had any reason to shoot. I don't know who it was who shot the kid, whether it was that officer or one of the soldiers, but whoever it was, you have to understand, he was defending himself. If someone standing around gawking in the middle of a situation like that suddenly turns and attacks you, you're not going to just let him, are you? You'd try and defend yourself. I, for one, am not going to condemn the soldiers because they started shooting. They were simply defending themselves.

JJ: So has the coup changed anything for you?

SH: No, nothing has changed.

JJ: What about in your division?

SH: Nothing. Things are fine. We arrived back at the garrison. Nobody looked at us as though we'd done anything wrong. Everything's fine there. It's the same now as it ever was.

JJ: So you don't think anything in the army has changed?

SH: The army is the same as it ever was.

JJ: And you, Sergei, you also don't see any changes?

SE: You know, I haven't really paid it any attention. The army is the army. It's got its own job to do. We've got our job to do, our own problems to deal with. Sometimes you read the papers, other times you don't have time. But there's no point in getting yourself all worked up thinking, talking about it. We, the army, we've got our own set of rules.

***

Ural Khusainov, (Age 18)

JJ: What were you ordered to do?

KH: We were ordered on to battle alert, and told to drive down here to the White House. We didn't have a clue about what was going on. But then we got ordered to close the bridge near the Ukraine Hotel, so we pulled up there.

JJ: Who gave the order?

KH: The Division Commander.

JJ: Where is the division normally stationed?

KH: About 40km out of Moscow, at Golitsino Station. We were put on alert at 5am, then ordered into the city at 7am. It took us about two hours to drive in.

JJ: How many of your lads came here?

KH: At first, the whole division came into Moscow. The rest of the division was scattered around the city. But our ten tanks were ordered to stay here, at the White House. Four went over and parked in front of the building, four stopped on the bridge, while the other two went around the back of the White House.

JJ: And were you ordered to attack the White House?

KH: No, on the contrary, we were ordered to defend the White House.

JJ: Right from the start?

KH: No. At first we received no orders at all. We were just told to come to Moscow.

JJ: But when you got here, did you realise it was an attempted coup?

KH: No, at first we didn't realise. But then they told us. The people and Major Yevdokimov. He came down here to the White House, and we crossed over to Russia's side. That's about it. I have to admit that at times it was pretty scary, but the people looked after us.

JJ: But when you decided to do this, join Russia's side, how did you feel?

KH: Okay.

JJ: You weren't afraid?

KH: No. When we first arrived, it was frightening. But then when we changed sides it was okay, everything was okay.

JJ: Were you convinced that you would win?

KH: Well, at first we weren't too confident. Because there were a lot of divisions in Moscow. The whole of our division, others. And against them, our ten tanks. But then, on the Wednesday, the rest of the Taman Division left town. And the other divisions too. In the end, we were the only ones left. Just our ten tanks. We didn't leave here till six in the morning on the 22nd, when we were ordered back to the garrison.

JJ: And you spent the whole three days here, sleeping in your tanks?

KH: Yeah, we slept in our tanks.

JJ: What about food?

KH: The people fed us. They brought food here and fed us. Fact is, we ate very well. Much better than we usually do at the garrison.

JJ: Did you see Yeltsin when he addressed the crowd from the tank on the Monday morning, calling on the people to overthrow the Emergency Committee?

KH: I didn't see him. I was on the bridge, and you couldn't see him from there. But the guys in the four tanks that were parked here, they saw him. You know, this was about the biggest thing that's ever happened to me. It's the first time I've ever seen a crowd of this size.

JJ: And did you discuss amongst yourselves what you would do if the other tanks from your division or some other division started firing on the people?

KH: We never really discussed it. There wasn't much to discuss really. After all, we didn't have any ammunition anyway. But right from the start, even if we had had ammunition, Major Yevdokimov ordered us not to shoot, no matter what happened: "Whatever happens, don't shoot the people, don't even think about it, because the people are us, we are the people."

JJ: And when the Russian side won, how did you feel?

KH: Well, we felt great of course, that Russia had won. After all, we had been on Russia's side.

JJ: When it was all over and you returned to the garrison, how were things there?

KH: Okay.

JJ: Were there any problems because of what you had done?

KH: Basically nothing happened.

***

Dima Belov (19 years old)

JJ: What's your name please?

DB: Belov, Dmitrii Ivanovich.

JJ: Where were you during the coup?

DB: Around the corner of the White House, near the monument. Where the barricades are still up.

JJ: What sort of tank where you in?

DB: A medium tank, a T-72, number 125.

JJ: How many of you were here?

DB: Us? The whole of our company was stationed around the White House.

JJ: When you saw the crowds here, what did you think?

DB: We realised there had been a coup. But we would never have fired on the people.

JJ: Even if you had been ordered to?

DB: Nothing would have happened.

JJ: They said that a helicopter assault on the building had been planned. Did you hear about this?

DB: Yes, we heard.

JJ: How did you feel when you found out?

DB: Hard to say now, it all happened back then, it's difficult to remember it all now.

JJ: But in principle you would have been ready to fight against your comrades from the army if it had come to that?

DB: We wouldn't have started fighting. What do we need blood for?

JJ: But what if they had sent a KGB Division against you. What would you have done then?

DB: No idea.

JJ: How did you find out about the three kids who had been killed on the Ring Road on the night of the 20th?

DB: News about it came over the tank's two-way radio.

JJ: What was your reaction?

DB: I remember thinking that it could have been me in their place.

JJ: I saw you here on the 22nd. Your tanks. You looked incredibly tired.

DB: To be expected.

JJ: Were there times during those three days when you were frightened?

DB: At first I was. When we first arrived, everyone surrounded us, and they were really angry. At the time, we had no idea what was going on. Then Yevdokimov crossed over, and we followed him. And then everyone said we had done our duty before the people.

JJ: But weren't you worried parked here, knowing that perhaps some other divisions might understand their duty differently?

DB: Hard to say. But I get the feeling that nobody wanted blood to be shed. Everyone wanted the whole thing to be settled peacefully.

JJ: How do you feel now, after the event?

DB: A lot of water's flowed under the bridge. But we feel the same way that we did then, that we did the right thing.

JJ: They say that it's an honour to be part of your division, the Taman Division. Is this true?

DB: Our division is not so special, it's just a parade division.

JJ: But you have become heroes because of the coup.

DB: We don't feel like heroes. Just that we did our duty.

JJ: Now that the people have made heroes out of you, do you feel that it's worth being in the army?

DB: It's worth it.

JJ: How do you feel about this film they are shooting now, and about yourselves being in it?

DB: I think that a film like this is a good idea, so that the coup isn't forgotten, that there will be some sort of record.

JJ: But do you feel that the film being made is an accurate representation of what happened?

DB: No, a lot of facts have been distorted. Things that didn't even happen are being filmed.

JJ: What, for example?

DB: It's hard to be specific. But, for example, they're filming this column of tanks drawn up in front of the White House here. But there never was a column. Or to be more accurate, right at the start there was, but then the tanks were split up.

JJ: Do you get the feeling that they're doing a lot of this for effect? Making it up?

DB: Yes. There's a lot of that going on.

***

Volodya Usov (Age 19)

JJ: How did you feel about the coup?

VU: Feel? I felt sorry for the people. Basically I was on their side. I'm no different from my father and mother, my two brothers. When we arrived here on the first day, the people asked us whether we were going to shoot them. That was the worst part of it all. We had to explain to them that we weren't here to shoot them or attack them.

JJ: What about when the three men were killed?

VU: One of them, perhaps you know, his name was Usov, the same as mine. That really affected me. I felt really sorry for him.

JJ: Did you go to their funeral?

VU: No, we didn't go to the funeral. We had already returned to our barracks.

JJ: They didn't let you, or you didn't want to go to the funeral?

VU: We would have gone, had we been invited.

***

Alexander and Volodya (both 18)

VO: We were in APCs. Our APC stood for three days in front of the Pravda building.

JJ: What time did they get you up on the 19th?

AL: The alarm to go on alert was given at 5am.

JJ: Five in the morning? And what did they tell you?

AL: Nothing. At the time we were supposed to be on an officers' training exercise. We thought it was all part of that. We had been woken at 1am too. Then we got up a second time at five and headed for Moscow.

VO: We still didn't know anything. It was only after the people started to give us the pamphlets to read that we found anything out.

JJ: And when you found out, what were your thoughts?

AL: Well my first thought was that I wasn't going to move against my own people. We've sworn an oath to protect the people.

VO: We had weapons, but we didn't have any ammunition. I think that the idea was simply to send some hardware down here to give the people a bit of a fright.

JJ: And how did the people react?

AL: In different ways. Some of them threw bottles at us. Others were practically on their knees begging us to take control of the situation.

JJ: And your unit didn't move from the Pravda building the whole three days?

AL: That's right. And the people fed us. Though as I said, different ones reacted differently, some threw bottles, others brought us sausage, bread, whatever they could.

JJ: And you weren't afraid that it might turn into civil war?

VO: Well, we did read pamphlets to that effect... But a soldier wouldn't have fired on the people. At least none of our company would have. None of us would have started shooting.

***

Sasha (19 years old)

JJ: You're from the Taman division too?

SA: Yes.

JJ: Where were you during the coup?

SA: We were on Tverskoi Boulevard, in APCs, armoured personnel carriers.

JJ: Did anything in particular happen where you were?

SA: Nothing. We just parked near the Central Post Office building.

JJ: Were you armed?

SA: Armed, but we didn't have any ammunition.

JJ: All the soldiers I have spoken to say they had no ammunition.

SA: That's right, we didn't. We came here without ammunition.

JJ: And everyone with whom I have spoken says that they would not have started shooting at the people.

SA: You're right. It wouldn't have happened. It was never even a question.