welcome back you're watching our new now let's look at the main stories we're covering for you this hour the world's financial markets are can falsify a fresh wave of selling amid fears the world economy is declining at spurs with a bleak forecasts of american and european growth saying both are dangerously close to recession. the u.s. russia so far has foreign internet services thought to have played a pivotal role in the arab uprisings but critics say while spending millions to promote on life freedom of thought washington is out to gain more control over events through the well. russia remembers the attempted coup twenty years ago that

precipitated the breakup of the soviet union and are sure to a reborn a country with failure of the overthrow brought a series of collapses the colonists institutions in the soviet state. to find out how the coup emerged in august nine hundred ninety one and follow each step of the historic event for russia in our special report that's coming up next. central moscow moscow's regional k.g.b. headquarters. early morning of august the nineteenth one nine hundred ninety one. this is the officer and. the events of the day the could have reversed the country's history. in attempts to depose president mikhail

gorbachev put his reforms on hold. tanks and other hardware thirteen moved into moscow. the city's key points have been taken over. the. borders the nineteenth nine hundred ninety one monday only in the morning teacher tatiana yakovlev a switch her t.v. on a sort of following picture instead of the usual programming every channels broadcasting tchaikovsky's famous ballet. i thought of which i turned the t.v. on to check the latest news and i was so surprised to see swan lake everywhere i was switching the t.v. channels for a long time thinking maybe there was something wrong with my t.v. set. at the same time as the ballot will cast more than seven hundred tanks on the personnel carriers being stationed in the streets the plotters

were in the kremlin. meanwhile so-called white house was at the center of civil resistance at the time it housed the russian parliament where the people's deputies met in session. it was past seven in the morning when the security chief came to my place. when i opened the door it's old me i had better go to the white house right away. as far as i could tell there was a coup going on in the country that's how i learned about it we decided to take a roundabout route instead of going straight to this building for. the coup was led by top brass and high ranking communist officials they had expected to get support from the population who were dissatisfied with the long drawn process of perestroika. they decided to make short work of gorbachev reforms

. the situation was quite old it's the country was in turmoil. there was a revolt of the hungry but abel standing in line for sausages stoop to fist fights and there were purpose of sort of jism a consumer market. but the country's president waved good bye to everybody and headed down south to the premier to relax. the crimean peninsula southern shore serbia president mikhail gorbachev's private residence in the village of photos. both its and scores of surrounding hector's became a prison for the head of state. here he spent several days in what amounted to confinement but there were up asika can be seen from all sides you get an almost bird's eye view of it from the mountain a rude leading to the residence can easily be blocked with stones after those

events the joke here was that gorbachev's residence must have been deliberately built in this place so that he could be easily cut off from the outside world is going to work your way or the. k.g.b. colonel lev tolstoy was directly involved in the events of those days he's a direct descendant a namesake of the celebrated russian novelist leo tolstoy. before he rose to the rank of colonel he served as a bodyguard on august the eighteenth one thousand nine hundred one top k.g.b. officials ordered him to block all exits from the govt off residence but i have no idea what would have happened if gorbachev and others had tried to escape from the residence but i do think he would have faced very unpleasant consequences for. this is exclusive footage of the residence of the first savior president the splendid park was laid out almost on their ranks this had special significance

because gorbachev was known to be very fond of strolling by the seaside. walk up of visa arizona cedars these pines healthy shrubs were all planted just before the territory was to be commissioner in one nine hundred eighty eight. that was a short while before mikhail gorbachev's first visit here. the crimean residence was code named terra trees idea and k.g.b. documentation the interior design of the main building reflected the wishes of race ago but over the president's wife she was with mikhail gorbachev throughout the force or deal. with those who would build what i would describe as internal defenses there the men carrying guns with live ammunition were

posted all over the place they were under strict orders not to allow provocations. the soviet president study was on the second floor close to the hole it was here that mikhail gorbachev learned about his complete isolation from the outside world . called the childe study looks just like it was back then for this is his desk we were aboard and that telephone was meant for communicating with government officials. the line was shut down at four pm on august eighteenth. gorbachev remained in his residence moreover measures to isolate him were reinforced still further valarie shah was the one who caught at the gate to the residence during two k.g.b. officers from moscow kept a close eye on him along with other local agents. special

measures were taken with a truck was stationed on the help to prevent helicopters from touching down when a tractor with a trailer outside the gates was meant to prevent motor vehicles breaking through into the compound. rain for security precautions were introduced throughout. the army general valentyn brain ical of was one of the key figures in the coup attempt on august the eighteenth one thousand nine hundred one even it'd go bitch off at his residence in the crimea which for a nickel asked the soviet president to recognize the legality of the coup. we knew what we were going to do or he and i told him all that somehow befitting through state of emergency and gorbachev retorted wife's claiming that a state of emergency was bonsa bring machine guns and blood in its wake at

a quarter or even i realize that other people as well as my family would suffer no doubt blood would be spilled certainly in such a vast country as out as this country takes time to get worked up when it does you can hardly stop at what my belief is the country's modernization without blood. august nineteenth one thousand nine hundred ninety one moscow eleven am i cried halt armored personnel carriers heading for the city center demonstrators climb one of them chanting no to fascism. hundreds of people gather womanish square in central moscow they are ready to oppose the so-called state committee on the state of emergency people who met each other back then drink to still keep in touch and remember those events. hello hello hello brothers and seen in

a hundred years when my parents will clear up in the morning they told me that occurred was under way i was actively involved in a youth democratic movement so i said if no one i know was arrested right away if this is no could all yes there were tanks but people were blocking them off what kind of coup is it if tanks can be stopped short in their tracks. a small radio set is one of the most treasured mementos from those days people used it to listen to the few independent stations it was still on that. one reporter said the air force refused to side with the coup are poor. into another a military garrison in st petersburg also refused to back it it was great to hear the people in many towns were supporting us. to give we didn't hear that a minor radio station called echo of moscow was the main source of news in those

days the k.g.b. shut it down in the first few hours of the two but whether by fair means or foul and stuff managed to regain access to the airwaves. at one point we even use cell phone lines to reach out to our audience there was no link between the studio and the transmitter so our engineers use an analog telephone line by all accounts those words are bill and signs. the students who assumes it's meanwhile the coup organizers called a press conference in moscow many took note of going out to you know its trembling hands he named himself the country's head of state claiming little bit off had fallen ill. the press conference reached a turning point after a question from touchy an american then twenty four year old journalist then why do you realize that what you have down today is a clue do you see parallels with your actions in soviet history nineteen seventeen

or nineteen sixty four. was for your clear him but a coup took place during the night. you said i would disagree with you because all legal and constitutional norms work complied with so i could ring it off and just say that they looked hesitant would be an understatement i never they looked as if life was dying out of them and there was no we tell it to the left in their faces in chief the eyes they look like people who had lost a battle before they had a chance to start it. all this nineteen nineteen ninety one zero eight a spontaneous rally began in my. goes my nation as square a crowd swelled as more and more people are right the events in moscow are described as anti constitutional coup there are calls for an open ended general strike. on this day on we are

protesting on a larger mansour mess. no to fascism no to fascism your lot really get right. hands. approach. shake the future flights. are two types to the max their show.

would be silage bryson. bands from the steam version. done totty dot com. on august the nineteenth one nine hundred ninety one top k.g.b. officials in moscow ordered reinforced security precautions at gove a child's residence in the crimea on the same day mikhail gorbachev videotaped has since become a famous address. a coup has taken place. this anti constitutional action. is based on a tremendous lie. and there was little chance of the tape being taken out of the compound on the same day coast guards protecting the residence attempted to establish contact with the president the nominative the

center was serving in one of the k.g.b.'s label units i was not allowed to communicate with the president therefore i asked my wife to write a note in her own handwriting a note said that the sailors were ready to take the president to a place of his choice one of my subordinates took the note to the security guards asking them to hand it over to gorbachev. when he came back they told him that nobody will be allowed to approach the residence and intruders will be shot. cool the tribes residence was secured from the sea even better than from the land. was one of the security guards there during those days nobody could approach the shore within less than four nautical miles without being spotted by guards if they saw the intruder as a possible threat they were under orders to open fire but they are they got three groups on terminated duty scoured the woodlands. snipers were in position on the

mountain. there was a soldier with a machine gun on top of the cliff near the base remains of it can still be seen in their. day for all us had a celebration. health resort for communist functionaries and their families was near the residence of the soviet president oldest is high season that the resort was crammed with holiday makers to capacity cuttlefish self before us result was in charge of discos and other entertainment programs. on aug nineteenth i said to students at physician look the country's president mikhail gorbachev is under arrest near here shall we cancel the dances you know she said the guests should not suffer let them dance this iteration with gorbachev

doesn't concern us. moscow august nineteenth one thousand nine hundred one there it seems when sea water cannons attempt to break through to the downtown area demonstrators damage some of them and force them to turn back. meanwhile the coup organizers ordered the arrest of the president of russia boris yeltsin at the time he was at his residence near moscow the chief of his security guards alexander korsakoff was with him they drove a service car to moscow and reached the city unhindered. and. yeltsin was seated between two guards are you flatly turned down the idea of wearing a bulletproof vest so we simply put it over him just in case. that heavy fast weighing nine kilos was of the kind worn in the army but the driver was told to go

as fast as he could without stopping no matter what. yeltsin managed to get to the white house where he reunited with his team later he climbed a tank to read out a message to a large crowd that had gathered outside the white house we were playing all the decisions and orders by that committee illegal. by then white house defenders had set up a makeshift barricade near the building in a bid to block the access of military vehicles. everybody was dragging whatever they could lay their hands on a trolley bus stop there the driver got out and lowered the trolleys the trolley bus was left standing across the road and barricade was here that's how we began blocking all approaches to the building. crimea the city of sevastopol soviet black sea fleet based fifty kilometers from of summer residence throughout the coombe first rank captain sim young of waited for an order to rescue called the

choice of what the defense ministry part of the coup the rescue plan was ignored yet of a date i first the pockets of resistance were to be suppressed will second stood president was to be found and taken under our protection thirty the remaining pockets of resistance were to be eliminated and we were to help evacuate the. president i see. the upshot of it was that naval commanders only sent a telegram to cool off urging him to hold on that telegram was received by a loop of zero there an employee of the four us post office hundreds of telegrams addressed to go bunch of were arriving from all over the soviet union k.g.b. men immediately seized all such mail. three days oldest eighteen thousand nine hundred twenty s. within minutes disturbing days in my life we had no idea whether we would be

allowed to go home and be arrested thinks or simply left to run the course. or was bracing for the worst case scenario people inside the white house expected an assault on the building with that possibility in mind they inspected all of the place once secret passages leading out into nearby courtyards. some of the regular reports coming in here claimed that an assault on the building of the supreme soviet would begin in an hour's time but why would they need an assault or the building is like an aquarium all you need to do is just answer it and that's all there is still it got pretty ugly though. this old alder was in fact given to the k.g.b. so-called alpha unit the men were already on high alert but for the first time in the unit's history they demanded an open debate and a vote on the order before launching operation but it's over.

the commander asked everybody to voice their opinion on the operation and whether an assault was necessary at all. yes yes. most of the men with a service record of more than five years said no to the operation. the operation was cold of but casualties were still unavoidable in the early hours of august the twenty first ninety ninety one the crews of several armored vehicles ordered to move to another location city white house defenders attempted to stop them because they thought the vehicles were heading towards the parliament building to attack it three young men died as a result. you both come over spent the night waiting for her son shortly before the oldest events he had served as a soldier in afghanistan he went to the white house after hearing an appeal from vice president alexander and called on people to go and defend democracy reform when my son had to squeeze appeal he went to the barricades because that's was

a call from someone who served in afghanistan to bring about a day before. i asked him if he was going to the barricades and he said no but he has his view of fighting in afghanistan. he had no business small making around barricades but in tuesday it was a different story upset on wednesday i learned that he was no more. after that tragedy it became obvious the coup had failed tanks began leaving moscow and all because the twenty first a card carrying russia's vice president would score it over took one for convoys he was rushing to the airport to bring mikhail gorbachev back to moscow it was a total mess of homeland and to me it. was none of the ground controllers guided our flight not even during the landing regardless it was a trouble free flight when we touched down the airdrome superintendent drove up to

the plane i introduced myself and said i needed a car and a bus to take us to gorbachev no problem. he said go right ahead. scores planes called the chalk on board touched down in moscow on august twenty second one thousand nine hundred one a coup had failed but the says it president had in effect returned to a different country should change during those three days in august i defended the soviet union to the last bullet that's what i did but failed. the finale of the stand off central moscow ammonium. to felix regency the founder of soviet secret police standing in front of k.g.b. headquarters and look young for a square is pulled down it was a symbol of the beginning of a new people. the bright future which the communists had been talking about for seventy years finally became a possibility we could build it with our own hands we were used to the fact that

the state was on neverland that it could break and destroy anyone but this time nothing happened people had risen like a wall we said no enough white. at approximately the same time the prosecutor general's office launches an investigation into the role of the coup organizers the plotters tried to pass the blame onto crimean frontier guards. initially the team of investigators of the prosecutor general's office displayed tolerance of that then they began dropping hints purging us to repent and take the whole blame for gorbachev's isolation otherwise we would face charges of high treason. as military men we became very bitter when we heard the word treason. however the frontier guards were later acquitted only those who gave the orders were arrested the driving forces of the coup led by general to unite have

a year later they were released from prison under an amnesty you know i have died in two thousand and ten as an excerpt from one of his last interviews. nor. will any misguided decisions were made during those three days in august one thousand make you want more tanks should not have been brought in and demonstrate of force should not have been used for a few months where we might all that could have been done and different way. when people today are asked whether they want a revival of the soviet union only nine percent say yes there is no chance of the state being revived in the form of the soviet union. mikhail gorbachev has never returned to summer residence since august one thousand nine hundred one now it's the property of the ukrainian state however top officials rarely vacation and. the former k.g.b.

colonel tolstoy makes no secret of the fact that even now he has no right to talk about some aspects of what happened then. crimean residents still harbors many secrets relating to those three days in one nine hundred ninety one only when new information has been take us to fight live be able to shed light on. the figure to be frank this place is not considered to be a very look at ole that's what that's really like. that. is a myth this is the officer on duty august twenty second one thousand nine hundred ninety five am boris yeltsin declares and there reactionary coup has failed and thanks to defenders of the white house twelve pm for the first sign the three colored flag is raised over the supreme council of russia. held said held for.

only five months or left before the collapse of the soviet union. morning when the t.v. news moves follow my ballet. going while the streets mcafee. the turning point in lusciousness. was a justified move forward. many years since the battle for democracy on our cheek.

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