The August, 1991, events surrounding the SCSE (the State Committee on the State of Emergency) coup d'tat

The August, 1991, events surrounding the SCSE (the State Committee on the State of Emergency) coup d’état are confusing even to those Russians who lived through them There were tanks in Moscow, and president Gorbachev was supposedly arrested at his vacation home in the settlement of Foros on the Crimean Peninsula. Vast majority of people had no idea what was happening, as the regular state TV broadcast was switched to “Swan Lake” ballet on repeat. Many people still associate Tchaikovsky’s famous creation with those dark days. General Alexander Rutskoy flew to Crimea to bring Gorbachev back to Moscow. Here’s General Rutskoy’s account on what really went on in Foros and on Gorbachev’s role in the August events.