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Article: The Red Army blues. (predicting the future role of the Soviet Army)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- September 23, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WHEN, on the morning of August 19, the Soviet news agency TASS informed the world of events in the USSR, there were few in the West who predicted the coup would collapse. Three members of the new eight-man Emergency Committee virtually guaranteed the success of the putsch: the heads of the army, Marshal Dmitri Yazov, of the KGB, Vladimir Kryuchkov, and of the Ministry of the Interior, Boris Pugo. They were supported by all three First Deputy Ministers of Defense, Generals Moiseyev (also Chief of the General Staff), Shlyaga (also Chief of the Military-Political Directorate), and Kochetov. They were also backed by some of the more important Deputy Ministers, Generals ...