Soviet 1991 coup leader Gennady Yanayev dies at 73

Former Soviet leader Gennady Yanayev, who led the abortive 1991 coup against then President Mikhail Gorbachev, died yesterday aged 73 following an illness, a former Soviet politician said. “I offer all my condolences to his loved ones,” Ruslan...

Former Soviet leader Gennady Yanayev, who led the abortive 1991 coup against then President Mikhail Gorbachev, died yesterday aged 73 following an illness, a former Soviet politician said.

“I offer all my condolences to his loved ones,” Ruslan Khasbulatov, one-time speaker of the Russian parliament, told the Echo of Moscow radio. “Mr Yanayev died after a long and painful illness. He was admitted the night before to a Moscow hospital,” a source at the hospital was quoted by the Interfax news agency as ­saying.

Coup leader Mr Yanayev served as a Soviet vice president from 1990-1991 before proclaiming himself acting President of the USSR. He was jailed after the two-day failed coup but was granted amnesty in 1994.

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