I can repeat under oath: even without using any weapons of mass destruction, Russia is capable simply from carelessness of destroying itself and even other states that are not among its closest neighbors. For this crime, extenuating circumstances could not be found.
In conclusion, I again quote Chaadaev, who wrote, “By your leave, in the face of our misfortunes I do not want to share the striving for unbridled patriotism which has brought the country to the brink of the abyss, which wants to disentangle itself while persisting in its illusions, not wishing to acknowledge the desperate position it has itself created.”9
Cast of Characters
Identification is based on relevance to this book. Entries are in alphabetical order by last name.
Adamishin, Anatoly L. (1934–)
Liberal pro-perestroika deputy foreign minister of USSR under Mikhail S. Gorbachev, later minister for cooperation with member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (1997–98).
Adamov, Yevgeny O. (1939–)
Head of Russia’s Ministry of Atomic Energy (1998–2001) arrested in Switzerland (2005) on U.S. warrant accusing him of misappropriating $9 million that it provided Russia to upgrade security of nuclear facilities; extradited to Russia and sentenced to five and a half years of imprisonment, which a higher court overturned for political reasons.
Afanasyev, Yury N. (1934–2015)
Political and public figure, historian, people’s deputy of the USSR (1989–91) and of Russia (1991–93).
Akhromeyev, Sergei F. (1923–91)
Marshal of the USSR, military adviser to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and supporter of anti-Gorbachev coup in August 1991 who in all probability committed suicide after it collapsed.
Andropov, Yury V. (1914–84)
Head of KGB (1967–82), general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CC CPSU) (1982–84).
Beriya, Lavrenty P. (1899–1953)
Head of People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) (1938–46), loyal subordinate of Stalin.
Boldin, Valery I. (1935–)
Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s chief of staff, one of the backstage leaders of the anti-Gorbachev coup d’état (August 1991).
Bordiuzha, Nikolai N. (1949–)
Secretary of Security Council of Russian Federation (1998–99).
Brezhnev, Leonid I. (1906–82)
General secretary of the CPSU (1964–82), presided over period of “classical” stagnation (zastoi).
Bukovsky, Vladimir K. (1942–)
Leading Soviet dissident, political prisoner, and critic of punitive psychiatry in USSR.
Chaadaev, Pyotr Y. (1794–1856)
Russian philosopher and critic, advocate of Westernization to end Russia’s isolation and stagnation.
Chernenko, Konstantin U. (1911–85)
General secretary of the CC CPSU (1984–85).
Chernyaev, Anatoly S. (1921–2017)
Foreign policy adviser to Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Churkin, Alexander А.
Chief psychiatrist, USSR Ministry of Health.
Diachenko, Tatiana B. (1960–)
Younger daughter of and influential adviser to Boris N. Yeltsin. She remarried in 2001 and is now surnamed Yumasheva.
Fradkov, Mikhail Y. (1950–)
Russian representative to the European Union (2003), prime minister (2004–7), director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) (October 2007–October 2016).
Glukhov, Alexei I. (1935–)
Acting director, Office of Humanitarian and Cultural Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, USSR (1986–89).
Gorbachev, Mikhail S. (1931–)
President of USSR (1990–91), general secretary of the CC CPSU (1985–91).
Gromyko, Andrei A. (1909–89)
Foreign minister of the USSR (1957–85), known in the West as “Mister No.”
Herzen, Alexander I. (1812–70)
Russian public and political figure, writer, philosopher, and liberal critic of tsarism.
Ivanov, Igor S. (1945–)
De facto senior assistant to Eduard Shevardnadze (1986–91), minister of foreign affairs of Russia (1988–2004), secretary of Security Council of Russia (2004–7).
Khrushchev, Nikita S. (1894–1971)
Post–Stalin leader of the USSR (1953–64), eased Stalinist repression and criticized some of Stalin’s crimes and cult of personality in “Secret Speech” (February 1956).
Kirill, Patriarch (Vladimir M. Gundyaev) (1946–)
High official in Russian Orthodox Church involved in foreign policy matters and secular affairs, including importing alcohol and tobacco into Russia. In all probability a KGB agent, alias “Mikhailov.”
Kokoshin, Andrei A. (1945–)
Secretary of Security Council of Russian Federation (1998).
Korzhakov, Alexander V. (1950–)
Bodyguard and close adviser to Boris N. Yeltsin, head of Presidential Security Service (1993–96).
Kovalev, Anatoly G. (1923–2002)
First deputy foreign minister of USSR (1986–91), trusted adviser to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, father of the author.
Kovalev, Sergei A. (1930–)
Political and public figure, one of the leaders of the Soviet and Russian dissident and human rights defenders’ movement.
Kovalev, Valentin A. (1944–)
Minister of justice, Russian Federation (1995–97).
Kozyrev, Andrei V. (1951–)
Minister of foreign affairs, Russian Federation (1991–96).
Kriuchkov, Vladimir A. (1924–2007)
Chairman of the KGB (1988–91), one of the main organizers of the August 1991 putsch.
Lenin, Vladimir I. (1870–1924)
Primary leader of the Bolshevik seizure of power (October 1917), founder of the USSR.
Ligachev, Yegor K. (1920–)
Second-ranking member of the Politburo of the CC CPSU (1985–90), leading critic of perestroika.
Litvinenko, Alexander V (1962–2006)
Former FSB agent, while living in exile in the United Kingdom, poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 by FSB agents (November 2006), probably on orders from Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev, Dmitry A. (1965–)
Vladimir Putin’s proxy, president of Russian Federation (2008–12), prime minister (2012–).
Nemtsov, Boris Y. (1959–2015)
Russian democratic politician, leading liberal critic of Vladimir Putin, assassinated in Moscow near the Kremlin.
Pasternak, Boris L. (1890–1960)
Great Russian poet, writer, Nobel Laureate in Literature (1958) but was compelled to decline the prize due to persecution by Soviet authorities.
Petrovsky, Vladimir F. (1933–2014)
Liberal deputy foreign minister of USSR under Mikhail S. Gorbachev, later United Nations undersecretary-general.
Pitirim, Metropolitan (Nechaev, Konstantin V.) (1926–2003)
Head of publishing division of the Russian Orthodox Church (1963–94), very influential, and in all probability a KGB agent, alias “Abbat.”
Politkovskaya, Anna (1958–2006)
Investigative journalist and leading critic of Vladimir Putin; assassinated in Moscow (October 2006).
Prikhodko, Sergei E. (1957–)
Responsible for the foreign policy activity of the president as a director of the Presidential Executive Office, as first deputy director, then as first deputy chief, Government Staff (1993–2013); deputy prime minister (2013–).
Primakov, Yevgeny M. (1929–2015)
Russian politician, foreign minister of Russian Federation (1996–98), prime minister (1998–99).
Pugo, Boris K. (1937–91)
Minister of the interior for the USSR, plotter in August 1991 coup d’état against Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and may have committed suicide after its collapse.
Putin, Vladimir V. (1952–)
KGB agent, president of the Russian Federation (1999–2008, 2012–).
&
nbsp; Roth, Dr. Loren (1939–)
American psychiatrist, part of U.S. delegation to investigate Soviet psychiatric abuse (1989).
Rushailo, Vladimir B. (1953–)
Secretary of Security Council of Russian Federation (2001–4); executive secretary of CIS (2004–7).
Rybkin, Ivan P. (1946–)
Russian politician, secretary of Security Council of the Russian Federation (1996–98).
Sakharov, Andrei D. (1921–89)
Soviet nuclear physicist, leading dissident and critic of Soviet communism.
Schifter, Richard (1923–)
U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs (1985–92).
Shchekochikhin, Yury P. (1950–2003)
Investigative journalist for Novaia gazeta; member of the Duma, Russia’s parliament; victim of unproven political assassination via poisoning (July 2003).
Shevardnadze, Eduard A. (1928–2014)
Minister of foreign affairs, USSR (1985–91), a leader of the democratic reforms in the USSR.
Shoigu, Sergei K. (1955–)
Minister of emergency situations, Russian Federation (1991–2012); minister of defense (2012–).
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander I. (1918–2008)
Leading Russian writer, critic of the Soviet system, Nobel Laureate in Literature (1970).
Stalin (Jughashvili), Josef V. (1879–1953)
Member of the top Soviet leadership after the Bolshevik coup of 1917, general secretary of the CC CPSU (1922–53), Soviet dictator from the second half of the 1920s until his death.
Surkov, Vladislav Y. (1964–)
Chief Kremlin ideologist, in particular of Russian nationalism, under Vladimir Putin (1999–2011); adviser to Putin.
Yakovlev, Alexander N. (1923–2005)
Ideologist of perestroika, close adviser to Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
Yanaev, Gennady I. (1937–2010)
Soviet politician, vice president of USSR (1990–91), appointed president during the anti-Gorbachev coup d’état (August 1991).
Yeltsin, Boris N. (1931–2007)
President of the Russian Federation (1991–99).
Yuvenaly, Metropolitan (Poyarkov, Vladimir K.) (1935–)
One of the most influential officials of the Russian Orthodox Church and in all probability a KGB agent, alias “Adamant.”
Zhirinovsky, Vladimir V. (1946–)
Russian politician, ultranationalist leader of far-right Liberal Democratic Party.
Chronology
March 11, 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
February 25–March 6, 1986 First attempt at a thorough reexamination of the foreign and domestic policies of the USSR, undertaken by Gorbachev at the Twenty-Seventh Congress of the CPSU. Humanitarian problems and human rights included among the key problems of international security.
April 26, 1986 Accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
May 15, 1988–February 15, 1989 Withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.
June 28–July 1, 1988 Nineteenth Party Conference of the CPSU adopts a resolution to transfer supreme state power to a Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR.
October 1, 1988 Gorbachev becomes chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
1988–91 “Parade of sovereignties”—anti-constitutional declarations asserting the superiority of laws of the constituent republics of the USSR over the laws of the USSR itself.
January 15, 1989 Adoption of the final document of the Vienna meeting of members of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, including important obligations in the realm of human rights essential for democratic reforms in the USSR. By a decision of the Politburo of the CPSU, the Vienna document was put into effect throughout the territories of the USSR and its implementation made mandatory for all ministries and departments.
March 26–May 21, 1989 Elections for people’s deputies of the USSR (the first free elections in the USSR).
May 25, 1989 Convening of the First Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR; Gorbachev elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (parliament).
1989–91 Creation of an “underground” of Soviet special services by means of creating secret associations of militarized detachments from former or active employees of the special and militarized services of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States; transfer of funds from the CPSU to trusted persons.
February 26–March 12, 1989 Visit of American psychiatrists to the USSR, one of the key events in the liquidation of punitive psychiatry in the USSR.
March 4, 1990 Election of people’s deputies of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR).
March 14, 1990 Adoption of “On the Establishment of the Presidency of the USSR and Introduction of Changes and Addenda to the Constitution of the USSR,” a law that abolishes the CPSU’s monopoly on power.
March 15, 1990 At the Third Extraordinary Congress of People’s Deputies of the USSR, Gorbachev is elected president of the USSR.
May 29, 1990 Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR convenes and chooses Boris Yeltsin as the chairman of the Supreme Soviet.
June 12, 1990 The First Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR adopts a resolution declaring the RSFSR a sovereign state.
October 1, 1990 The USSR passes a law on freedom of conscience and of religious organizations.
May 20, 1991 Supreme Soviet of USSR adopts a law “On Procedures for Citizens of the USSR Regarding Departure from and Entry into the USSR.”
June 12, 1991 Yeltsin is elected president of Russia.
1990–91 Parade of sovereignties of subjects of the RSFSR.
August 18–21, 1991 Attempted coup d’état led by the KGB and the reactionary wing of the CPSU.
December 8, 1991 Signing of the Belovezh Accords by the head of the RSFSR (Yeltsin), Byelorussia (S. Shushkevich), and Ukraine (L. Kravchuk) on terminating the existence of the USSR.
September 21–October 4, 1993 President Yeltsin signs Decree No. 1400, dissolving the Congress of People’s Deputies and the Supreme Soviet of Russia, leading to armed clashes and the shelling of the parliament building by tanks. Estimates suggest that 300–400 people were killed.
December 2, 1994 Operation Muzzle in the Snow carried out by the presidential security service, dissatisfied with Channel One’s television coverage of the First Chechen War, against NTV owner Vladimir Gusinskii; beginning of the establishment of broad control over the mass media.
December 11, 1994 President Yeltsin signs Decree No. 2169; and military operations in Chechnya by units of the Ministry of Defense and domestic troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs begins.
July 3, 1996 Yeltsin, although very unpopular, is reelected to a second term as president in a ruthlessly rigged election.
August 31, 1996 Alexander Lebed, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and Aslan Maskhadov, chief of staff of Chechnya, sign the Khasavyurt armistice agreement. Russian forces are fully withdrawn from Chechnya, but a decision on the status of the republic is put off until December 31, 2001.
August 17, 1998 A technical default on basic types of government debts is declared; rejection of maintaining a stable ruble-dollar exchange rate, artificially inflated by massive intervention by the Central Bank of Russia.
September 11, 1998 The State Duma confirms Yevgeny Primakov as prime minister of Russia; the special services commence the decisive seizure of key posts throughout the state apparatus of Russia.
August 9, 1999 On the same day, Vladimir Putin is appointed first deputy chairman and acting chairman of the government. President Yeltsin proclaims Putin, having headed the FSB since 1998 and served as the prime minister for the previous few days, as his successor.
September 4–16, 1999 A series of explosions occurs in apartment houses, almost certainly carried out by the regime, in Buinaksk, Moscow and Volg
odonsk; 307 people are killed.
September 23, 1999 Russian troops begin massive bombardment of Grozny and its environs, starting the Second Chechen War.
December 31, 1999 President Yeltsin announces his early retirement and appoints Putin acting president of Russia.
Night of April 13–14, 2001 Concluding the political conflict between the Kremlin and NTV, due in particular to the war in Chechnya and the telecommunication company’s refusal to support pro-Kremlin candidates in the parliamentary elections of 1999, Gazprom representatives replaced the security guards at NTV headquarters and annulled the journalists’ passes; beginning of wholesale liquidation of freedom of the media.
October 25, 2003 Arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was later sentenced to nine years of forced labor. This marks the start of complete executive power and control over all the activities of large-scale Russian businesses.
March 2, 2008 Dmitry Medvedev is chosen as president of Russia. Putin becomes prime minister.
August 8–12, 2008 Russia’s war against Georgia results in Georgia completely losing control over the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
December 4, 2011–March 4, 2012 Protest movement, known as the “Snow Revolution,” against the official results of elections to the Sixth State Duma and election of Putin to a third term.
March 4, 2012 In the first round, having secured 63.6 percent of the vote according to official figures, Putin is elected to a third presidential term.
February 2014 Russia annexes Crimea.
April 2014 The beginning of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine to link it to Russia, at a minimum, utilizing armed support from the Kremlin; establishment of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine.
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