Boris Yeltsin says the Soviet coup plotters had sought to bully KGB commanders into storming the Russian parliament building and seizing the republic's leadership, shooting him should he try to escape.
But the commanders steadfastly refused to mount what would have surely been a bloody assault on a determined Russian leadership - and that may have been the turning point in last week's failed coup.Yeltsin said Sunday in an interview with Russian television that commanders of the KGB's elite, anti-terrorist Alpha Group resisted intense pressure, including "threats of court-martial, execution, etc." by their superiors.
The parliament building was the focal point of the opposition during the coup and was surrounded by tens of thousands of Muscovites for three days to stave off an attack.
"It was a complete surprise to all the KGB leadership" when the commanders refused to storm the 19-story building Tuesday night, the Russian president said. "About 20 commanders were invited and bullied, one by one. Not one of them agreed," he said. "Then all were gathered in a gym, but they said no, and once again no."
Yeltsin said the commanders should be considered saviors of "Russia, the Soviet Union and the world."
He said the Alpha Group - armed with grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles and other powerful weapons - originally was ordered to "disperse" the people in front of the building and break inside last Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Because the commanders balked, the time for the attack was postponed until 8 p.m., then 10 p.m., then 1 a.m. Wednesday, then 3 a.m., according to the Russian president.
When dawn broke Wednesday and the building had not been taken, the coup quickly fell apart. Gorbachev regained control of the country Wednesday afternoon after 21/2 days under house arrest in the Crimea.
Yeltsin said he learned of the plans to storm the building from both defectors and documents.
The KGB troops were supposed "to deliver crushing blows from all sides on the first floor, shoot everything, all that was alive, doors, windows, everything, break into the building through them and then penetrate into the president's offices and capture the president," Yeltsin said, referring to himself.
If there was any possibility that Yeltsin might escape, the troops were under orders to shoot him, he said. In addition, they were given a list of 11 other people to capture or "preferably to shoot" during the storming.
Yeltsin described the eight-member committee that ran the coup as "a fascist junta" that "would have destroyed thousands of people without a tremor."