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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, February 21, 1995, A young Russian Interior Ministry soldier keeps watch from his anti-aircraft gun nest in Grozny, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, the Sovi Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, May 7, 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and former President Boris Yeltsin watch Kremlin guards marching in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photograph Alexander Zenlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, May 10, 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton raises his glass to toast with Russian President Boris Yeltsin at a dinner reception in Moscow's Kremlin Hall of Facets, in Moscow, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichen Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, June 3, 1992, A man gives money to a saleswoman while others wait for their turn to buy vodka as the cost of vodka and other spirits tripled on Monday with the new price in a state-owned shop in Moscow. When A Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Saturday May 1, 1993, An elderly communist woman clutches her head as police on horseback patrol the streets in Moscow. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, the Soviet Union was Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010, The Aston Martin Rapide gleams on display in the the company's flagship store in Moscow, Russia, where well-heeled customers browse among sleek sports cars that start at 242,000 euros (USD$326,00 Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, A young couple embrace as Russian army vehicles roll past towards the Red Square, during a night rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko sta Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, gestures during his talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and French President Francois Hollande, right, in Moscow, Russia. When Alexander Zemli Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on May 30, 1994, Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn autographs his book 'Archipelago GULAG' during his visit to the first private school in Vladivostok, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP phot Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, Office employees take a break near the skyscrapers of the "Moscow City" in Moscow, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, the Soviet Union was neari Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken early Friday, Aug. 23, 1991, People step on the head of the statue of the founder of the KGB, Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, which was toppled at the KGB headquarters in Moscow while thousands of Muscovites watched. When Al Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday Sept. 6, 2004, A relative of Madina Tamayeva, 10, killed together with her mother in the school hostage taking, weeps as she holds Madina's portrait during her funeral in Beslan, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianiche Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Thursday, Aug. 22, 1991, Russian Republic President Boris Yeltsin, second right, makes a V-sign to thousands of Muscovites at a rally in front of the Russian federation building to celebrate the failed military coup in M Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, April 2, 1991, A line of Muscovites jam a counter to buy milk at a state-owned food shop as prices have doubled and bread has tripled on Tuesday, in Moscow. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, August 27, 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev rubs his eyes, seemingly exhausted from the gruelling special session of the Supreme Soviet as he threatens to resign if the Soviet Union falls apart in Moscow Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Sunday, Nov. 4, 1990, The high priests of Russian Orthodox Church holding up icons and crosses parade pass a giant Lenin portrait in the Red Square, Moscow. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photogra Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, March 8, 1993, An old communist with a saucepan on her head strikes it with a spoon while shouting out anti-Yeltsin slogans under the former Soviet flag during a pro-communist women's protest march called "empty Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, June 10, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin dances at a rock concert during his presidential compaine in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. A When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photographer in Moscow, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, October 4, 1993, Muscovites watch the smoke billowing from the parliament building in Moscow, during the assault of the White House by the Russian Army. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP phot Alexander Zemlianchenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures after signing a treaty to incorporate Crimea into Russia in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. When Alexander Zemlianichenko started working as an AP photogr Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, May 26, 2014, A pro-Russian armed militant wearing a shirt bearing an emblem of a former Ukrainian special force police unit sits behind a camouflage net as he guards a checkpoint blocking the major highway which Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Monday, May 9, 2016, Russian soldiers march during the Victory Day military parade marking 71 years after the victory in WWII in Red Square with the State Historical Museum is in the background in Moscow, Russia. When Al Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the unveiling ceremony of a monument to Vladimir the Great, who is credited with making Orthodox Christianity the official faith of Russia, Ukraine and Bel Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Saturday, June 17, 1995, A column of hostages, all women and small children, leave the hospital as they were released by their Chechen rebel fighters after a morning battle in the southern Russian city of Budyonnovsk, Ru Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
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FILE - In this file photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 21, 1991, A man holds on to bread he found in the garbage dump as a woman scavenges for food nearby at a garbage dump at Khmetevo, near Moscow . Many old pensioners cannot afford the high price of food as Alexander Zemlianichenko, Associated Press
By Associated Press
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Twenty-five years ago, a failed coup by hard-line Communists led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Here, with a selection of his photographs, Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer Alexander Zemlianichenko describes what it was like chronicling the pivotal moments since.

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