A Fateful Month

The ongoing events in the Kursk region—marked by a rapidly advancing offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine—serve as a stark reminder that August has always been an ill-fated month for Russia. One only needs to recall the 1998 default declared by Russia or the shameful war in Georgia in 2008, where the empire no longer concealed its true brutal nature from the world. Ultimately, one of the significant turning points in the Russo-Ukrainian war—the collapse of the Kharkiv front during the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive in early September 2022—was also a consequence of the heavy weapon deliveries from allies in August.

However, undoubtedly, one of the most significant blows to Russia in recent history came in August 1991. It seemed that the final point was put on the Cold War between the two superpowers, the USA and the USSR. The general euphoria over the fall of the totalitarian colossus drowned out the voices of cautious sceptics who doubted that the Soviet Union had irreversibly disappeared from the political map of the world and from the consciousness of the citizens inhabiting those territories.

On 18 August 1991, the first (and last) president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, was blocked at his dacha in Foros, Crimea. Government officials who visited the disgraced president suggested that he voluntarily relinquish his powers, but he refused. On the same day, Vice President of the USSR Gennady Yanayev signed a decree temporarily assuming the presidential powers from 19 August "due to the inability of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev to perform his duties as President of the USSR due to health reasons." On that same day, the Airborne Forces were put on high alert.

On 19 August, Yanayev signed a decree forming the State Committee on the State of Emergency (GKChP), comprising himself, Pavlov, Kryuchkov, Yazov, Pugo, Baklanov, Tizyakov, and Starodubtsev. The members of the GKChP present signed GKChP Decree No. 1, which declared a state of emergency "in certain localities of the USSR" for six months from 04:00 Moscow time on 19 August, banning rallies, demonstrations, and strikes, suspending the activities of political parties, public organisations, and mass movements that hindered the normalisation of the situation. Moreover, this decree invalidated laws and decisions passed by the governing bodies of the union republics that contradicted the USSR constitution. For countries that had already adopted Declarations of State Sovereignty, such as Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova, this was a signal—the empire was in agony, and the long-awaited chance for freedom from the unsustainable socialist dictatorship had finally arrived.

On the morning of 20 August, the Airborne Forces seized the Ostankino television centre and all communication hubs and news agencies in Moscow. Military units and Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel blocked the city's central districts, including the Kremlin and Manezhnaya Square. Mass strikes by Moscow residents began, with crowds gathering near the Parliament building, where Boris Yeltsin (who assumed the duties of Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces on the territory of the Russian Federation) and other opponents of the GKChP among politicians and cultural figures addressed the public. That day, one of the last in the history of the USSR, is remembered by the empire's population for the endless broadcast of the ballet "Swan Lake" on central channels.

On 21 August, tragic events occurred as demonstrators clashed with soldiers of the Taman Division, resulting in the deaths of three civilians—the only casualties in the bloodless dissolution of the Soviet Union, excluding the two GKChP members who later committed suicide. On 22 August, Gorbachev returned from Crimea by plane, the coup organisers were arrested, and the victors celebrated en masse in front of the White House on the Kremlin embankment.

On 24 August 1991, the events in the empire's capital prompted a response from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which unanimously adopted the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine: "Proceeding from the mortal danger that loomed over Ukraine due to the state coup in the USSR...". On 25 August, the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution temporarily suspending the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Later, the activities of the communists were permanently banned, marking an important step for Ukraine towards the decommunisation of society and a move away from the totalitarian legacy of the communist regime. Unfortunately, Russia never took these steps, leading to the gradual establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship, "victory cultism," and Putin's attempts to revive the Soviet Union through aggressive wars of conquest in the territories of former union republics.

One of the musical symbols of the August coup was the 1990 song "Wind of Change" by the German band Scorpions (one of Mikhail Gorbachev's favourite bands). The first lines of the rock hit seemed prophetic in those days:

“I follow the Moskva down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night, soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change.”

In 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Scorpions' lead singer Klaus Meine changed the lyrics of his legendary hit for the first time in 30 years to support the Ukrainian people.

"Now listen to my heart, it says Ukrainia…"

As for Russia, with its political resentment and nostalgia for the "happy Soviet past," the historical lesson of August 1991 was not learned, and the mistakes of the past were not addressed. On the contrary, Vladimir Putin sincerely views the collapse of the USSR as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century and his personal tragedy.
In this case, the only "wind of change" for the citizens of the Russian Federation, brainwashed by state propaganda, may one day be the re-airing of "Swan Lake" on all federal channels. Perhaps this will not happen in August, but the preconditions for the collapse of the Putin regime are being laid right now by the heroic actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine and in the liberated areas of the Kursk and Belgorod regions.