for the full story we've got it first the biggest issues get the human voice face to face with the news makers on. eleven thirty sunday morning here in the russian capital top stories now this hour heavy gunfire and explosions are heard in the libyan capital as rebels claim they've launched an attack on tripoli with colonel gadhafi as for foster approaching but some reports suggest the loud planes were celebration followed celta government forces repelled the offensive. surge of violence in the middle east with fears a deadly exchange of fire between israel and gaza might lead to the jewish state launching a new ground attack and run israelis protesting against social injustice say the government might use the conflict to the verge of attention from problems at home.

and britain fights back against recent riots with class sentences handed to those who thought about taking part at all consoles he governs excessive response will simply fuel public dissent. back with more news stories in half an hour from now in the meantime this week also marks twenty years since the violent crew aimed at overthrowing mikhail gorbachev changed the course of history for the soviet union next a close look at those dramatic events in our special report. 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. it was an attempt to depose president mikhail

gorbachev put his reforms on hold. tanks and other hardware being moved into moscow. the city's key points have been taken over. or has the nineteenth ninety ninety one monday only in the morning teacher tatiana yakovlev or switched her t.v. on and saw the following picture of the usual programming every channel was broadcasting tchaikovsky's famous ballot. 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 to be set. at the

same time as the ballet broadcast more than seven hundred tanks and on the personnel carriers were being stationed in the streets the plotters were in the kremlin. meanwhile those 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 on the part of it was past seven in the morning when the security chief came to my place. for work when i opened the. or it's all b 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 where you would decided to take a roundabout route instead of going straight to this building where. 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's reforms. the situation was quite odd the country was in turmoil. there was a revolt of the hungry but equal standing in line for sausages stoop to fist fights and there were purvis of sort of jizz on the consumer market. but the country's president waved good bye to everybody and headed down south to the career to relax in. the crimean peninsula southern shore serbia president mikhail gorbachev's private residence in the village of force both it and scores of surrounding had tears became a prison for the head of state here he spent several days and what amounted to confinement. but there were a psychic can be seen from all sides you get an almost bird's eye view of it from

the mountain the rood leading from 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 but about through a. k.g.b. colonel tolstoy was directly involved in the events of those days he is a direct descendant a name sake 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 nine hundred ninety one top k.g.b. officials ordered him to block all exits from the gorbachev residence but i have no idea what would have happened if gorbachev and others had tried to escape from the residence where they offer what i do think you would have faced very unpleasant consequences. this is exclusive footage of the residence of the first savior

president the splendid park was laid out almost on bare rocks as have special significance because gorbachev was known to be very fond of strolling by the seaside. what release arizona seeders these pines and these shrubs were all planted just before the territory was to be commissioned 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 in 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 us or you we built what i would

describe as internal defenses their men carrying guns with live ammunition were posted all over the place they were under strict orders not to allow provocations or push deeper work of. 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. which are. gorbachev study looks just like it was back then for this is his desk. and bad telephone was meant for communicating with government officials for go. for the lying was shut down for pm on august eighteenth what. gorbachev remained in his residence moreover measures to isolate him were reinforced still further valarie shah was the one who counted the gates 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 when a truck was stationed on the help prevent helicopters from touching down a tractor with a trailer outside the gates was meant to prevent motor vehicles breaking through into the compound. reinforced security precautions were introduced throughout. to be yes konami general valentyn but a nick of was one of the key figures in the coup attempt. on august eighteenth one thousand nine hundred one even it'd go bitch off at his residence in the crimea which you. asked the serbian president to recognize the legality of the coup. we knew what we were going to do during the night told him all that somehow defeated into a state of emergency and gorbachev retorted by exclaiming that

a state of emergency was dance of green machine guns and blood in its wake 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 ours 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 must go 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 joined to still keep in touch and remember those events.

hello hello hello brothers and seen in a hundred years when my parents woke me up in the morning they told me that a coup was underway i was actively involved in the youth democratic movement so i said if no one i know was arrested right away this is no clue at 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 as one of the most treasured mementos from those days people used it to listen to the few independent stations that was still on at. one report said the air force refused to side with the coup our court. to another a military garrison in st petersburg also refused to back it it was great to hear the people in many towns are supporting us. he is

a minor radio station called echo of moscow was the main source of news in those days and k.g.b. shut it down in the first few hours of the coup but whether by fair means or foul its staff managed to regain access to the airwaves. at one point we even used telephone lines to reach out to our audience there was no link between the studio and the transmitter so our engineers used an analog telephone line by all accounts those were thirty one times the level of the students who assumes it's meanwhile the coup organizers called a press conference and moscow many took note of can now do you know it's trembling hands in aimed himself the country's head of state claiming the call which offered for an ill. press conference reached a turning point after a question from touchy an american then twenty four year old journalist. do you realize that what you have a down to do is

a clue do you see parallels with your actions in soviet history in the one nine hundred seventeen or nineteen sixty four. as for your clear him better coup took place during the night. yes i would disagree with you because all legal and constitutional norms were complied with so he would just say that they looked hesitant would be an understatement they looked as if life was dying out of them and there was no we tell it he left in their faces and she was the eyes they looked like people who had lost a battle before they had a chance to start it. i was nineteen nineteen nineteen one zero eight a spontaneous rally began in march. goes my nation ask where the crowd swelled as more and more people arrived events in moscow are described as an see constitutional coup there are calls for an open ended general strike.

on this day on we are protesting until our demands are met. no to fascism no to fascism or why have a right. angle of approach. our own shaking the future flights to. march to take something to the max air show. as you know song sixteen years old when he committed these murders that's not to say that song so or should not be punished for his crimes song is. no rational person can deny that john has been punished is being punished and will be punished

. as ours must be executed for the brutal crime committed this is a punishment this is not. imagined. bandstand. because we've been immersed know me whatsoever. and i didn't come here just. entered a farmer's. start really small town. martin. and my aunt is now.

on august the nineteenth one nine hundred ninety one top k.g.b. officials in moscow orders reinforce security precautions residents in the crimea on the same day mikhail gorbachev videotaped has since become a famous address. to has taken place. this anti-constitutional action. is based on a tremendous lie. that 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 was a nominal defense i was serving in one of the k.g.b.'s naval 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 residents and intruders will be shot. told the troops residence was secured from the sea even better than from the land. and 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 the guards if they saw the intruder as a possible threat they were under orders to open fire. three groups on permanent 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 feel the theme of

their. day for all of us have a celebration. health resort for communist functionaries and their families was near the residence of the soviet president august is high season that the resort was crammed with holiday makers to capacity puzzles their solve of the forest result was in charge of discos another entertainment program. must go on aug nineteenth i said this to dish out physician look the country's president mikhail gorbachev is under arrest near here that show we canceled the dances you know she said begets should not suffer let them dance this situation with gorbachev doesn't concern us. moscow august nineteenth one thousand nine hundred ninety one though it seems when sea water cannons it sounds to break

through to the downtown area demonstrators damage some of them and force them to turn back. meanwhile cool can ises 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 of course our cove was with him i drove a service car to moscow and reached the city on him that. more youth of. yeltsin was seated between two guards and you flatly turned down the idea of wearing a bulletproof vest so we simply put it over him just in case. that heavy vest weighing nine kilos was of the kind worn in the army. 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 which had covered outside the white house we were claiming 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 driving whatever they could lay their hands on at trolley bus stop there the driver got out and lowered the trolleys the trolley bus was left standing across the road and gary cage was here that's how we began blocking all approaches to the building. the crimea the city of sevastopol a soviet black sea fleet based fifty kilometers from the summer residence throughout the coombe first rank captain simeonoff waited for an order to rescue called the church of the with the defense ministry part of the coup the rescue plan was ignored you know with that but they didn't i first the pockets of resistance

were to be suppressed second the president was to be found and taken under our protection third 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 betroth urging him to hold on and that telegram was received by . an employee of the forest post office hundreds of telegrams addressed to go brush off were arriving from all over the soviet union k.g.b. men immediately seized all such mail. those three days oldest eighteenth nineteenth and twentieth through the most disturbing days in my life we had no idea whether we would be allowed to go home and be arrested or simply left to run the course. 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 basement secret passages leading out into nearby courtyards are some of the regular reports coming in here claim that an assault on the building of the supreme salvi it would begin in an hour's time but why would they need an assault the building is like an aquarium all you need to do is just answer it and that's all there is still it. really go. this old order 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 older before launching operation marty it's over with. 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 told of but casualties were still unavoidable in the early hours of august the twenty first nine hundred 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. and you both come or spent the night waiting for the sun 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 who called on people to go and defend democracy harbor will slip for good when my son had to squeeze it be you he went to the barricades because that's was a call from someone who served in afghanistan. but a day before. i asked him if he was going to the barricades and he said no that he

has his view of fighting in afghanistan. he had no business monkeying around barricades but on tuesday it was a different story of the year on wednesday that he was no more. after that tragedy it became obvious the coup had failed tanks began leaving moscow one of us the twenty first a card carrying russia's vice president would score over took one of the convoys it was rushing to the airport to bring mikhail gorbachev back to moscow it was a total mess by some land and. with the pulled up and 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 the bus to take us to gorbachev problem call madrid schoolboy he said go right ahead. good scores plane was called the

chalk on board touchstone must go on august twenty second one thousand nine hundred one the coup had failed but the soviet president in effect which turned to a different country much changed during those three days in august i defended the soviet union to the last bullet that's what i did what i failed. to phonology at the standoff central moscow ammonium. to felix region ski the founder of soviet secret police standing in front of k.g.b. headquarters and lubyanka square is pulled down it was a symbol of the beginning of a new people thank you for the book the bright future which the communists have 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 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 urging 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 and we. were going to however the frontier guards were later acquitted only those who gave the orders were arrested the driving forces of the coup led by getting out a united a year later they were released from prison under an amnesty you know i have died in two thousand and ten this is an excerpt from one of his last interviews. we will

nor. of any misguided decisions were made during those three days in august one nine hundred eighty one you know we were in the tanks should not have been brought in and demonstrated or should not have been used for a few months and where we might all that could have been done and different way. of the prophet 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 his summer residence since august one thousand nine hundred one now it's the property of the ukrainian state however top officials rarely vacationland. 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 residence still harbors many

secrets relating to those three days in one nine hundred ninety one only when new information has been declassified livy able to shed light on. the figure to be frank this place is not considered to be very lucky at all that's what that's why you got that. this is the officer on duty august twenty second nine hundred ninety one by the am boris yeltsin declares at their reactionary coup has failed and thanks to defenders of the white house twelve pm for the first saw i am the three colored flag is raised over the supreme council of russia. held said yelled for. only five months or left before the collapse of the soviet.

all of. them.