Amid the many voices reflecting on the failed coup in Moscow a decade
ago which helped trigger the end of the Soviet Union, Alexander Usov and
his wife Sofia have more right than most to be heard.
While the events in August 1991 which sparked the collapse of the Communist
party's stranglehold on power were almost bloodless, there were three exceptions.
One was their son, Vladimir.
Shortly after midnight on August 21, a little more than three days after
the plotters resolved to seize power from the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev,
he died alongside two other "defenders of the White House" who had responded
to Boris Yeltsin's calls to repel the army from the headquarters of the
Russian government he led.
Dmitri Komar, an Afghan veteran who clambered on to an armoured personnel
carrier approaching the building, was shot at, lost balance and was crushed
under the vehicle. Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky, both in the crowd
nearby, were killed by bullets fired by a soldier inside.
"Vladimir, Dmitri, Ilya - three of the best Russian names," says Sofia
Usova, a retired schoolteacher. "But they did not perish in vain. Three
people died, and that created a shock. Everyone stopped."
Lyubov Komar, the mother of Dmitri, agrees. "If he hadn't died,
things would not be as they are," she says, sitting facing a shrine to
her son that takes up most of the wall of the family living room, with
photographs, newspaper articles and artefacts including his medals. "When
they heard what happened, they stopped the army. Three kids stopped the
putsch."
The families of all three victims are preparing over the next few days
to commemorate the events along with hundreds of others who formed a human
ring around the White House.
They will first visit the scene of the incident, where a small monument
now stands, then they will attend the graveyard nearby where the three
are buried.
Their varied opinions on what has happened since reflect broader ambiguities
of Russians' feelings about the changes that have taken place over the
past 10 years. Mr Usov, a retired rear admiral, has no illusions about
the past.
"We thought the putschists were't serious. I was market-oriented and
strongly supported Yeltsin. "Practically everything has improved since
then," he says. "Ten years ago, the shops were empty. We dreamed about
buying things. Now we are free. In the past, we did what we were told.
Now you can have contact with foreigners and travel overseas. You can earn
money if you want."
Ms Komar is more circumspect. Her husband retired from the armed forces
with ill-health, and she has been unemployed since the clinic where she
worked closed in April 1991. "Perhaps I would have supported the putsch
if there had been no tanks, but to send the army against the people - that
was inadmissible."
She gestures towards the furniture in the room. "Everything we have,
we bought in Soviet times. We lived better in 1991. We had a lot of money
then. Now we live on Rbs4,000 [$137] a month. Bread cost 25 kopecks then,
and 7 roubles today. You see what I mean?"
The opinions mirror the mixed findings of a survey of Russian perceptions
carried out regularly over the past decade by Professor Richard Rose from
the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. His polls suggest strong advances
in personal freedom, with more mixed but generally improving living standards.
The number of people having sometimes to do without food, heating or
electricity is low and falling, for example, although the number withdrawing
their savings has been increasing and salary delays are still frequent.
There is a core 18 per cent who are "vulnerable" because they rely only
on their low official incomes, and 8 per cent "marginal".
"The past that is remembered is misremembered," he says, arguing that
the Brezhnev era of the 1970s and early 1980s is often recalled with nostalgia,
but was characterised by economic stagnation and a reduction in life expectancy.
"Today, people have adapted. They have also lowered their expectations."
Both the Komars and the Usovs feel some sympathy for Mikhail Gorbachev,
who - unlike Mr Yeltsin - attended their sons' funerals, while having mixed
views on his policies. Both also place their faith in Vladimir Putin to
bring some stability to Russia.
But Mr Usov adds a note of patience. "We need five Putins. People wanted
to immediately live like in the US or the UK," he says. "We had 70 years
of communism. Even in East Germany, where they only had 45, they still
say they will need another 30 years to adjust."
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