poptsov joined this chorus that bragin seemed to be cowardly, faint-hearted, turned off the air, allv personally. i think here in given the fact that he could not get an answer from anyone, why did they set fire to the television center , a national property, as he said? they refused to air, they don’t want to enter into negotiations with us, we won’t get air, what meaning could ostankin’s occupation have for us, only one, let there be no air for us, but let there be no air for the opposite one, don’t believe anyone who says you don’t want , a black gaping hole in the air for almost 40 minutes, 40 minutes of blank screen, all this time the residents of the country remained in what is happening in moscow, an armed coup, is yeltsin alive, where khazbulat? now, years later , it’s easy to argue what should have been done then , to condemn television executives for unprepared decisions. vyacheslav bragin was appointed switchman. he was removed from the leadership of the television and radio company. what would have happened if, during a live broadcast , armed people had burst into the stu