Byzantine intrigues in the Kremlin
Recently, March 11 passed 28 years from the day that Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected General Secretary at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee. Today it is obvious that his rule was a succession of betrayals and crimes, which resulted in the collapse of the Soviet power. It is symbolic that Gorbachev's coming to power was due to the chain of gloomy Kremlin intrigues.
We will tell you about a series of strange deaths of elderly Politburo members who, as it were, competed for Mikhail Sergeevich to quickly ascend to the party throne and begin his disastrous experiments. But first let us turn to the personality of the Chairman of the USSR KGB, Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (in the photo). It was his insatiable desire to become the head of the party and the state that spring, which, in the end, threw to the top of the power pyramid of Gorbachev.
It is known that Andropov, until the death of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, was not considered as a candidate for the highest party post. Having become the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1967 year, he understood that the absolute majority of the members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee would not support his claims to the General Secretary. The only solution for Andropov was waiting and timely elimination of competitors. The head of the secret service had enough opportunities for that.
In this regard, some researchers suggest the following version of events unfolding on the Old Square in 1976-1982. Andropov’s plan was as follows. On the one hand, to ensure that Brezhnev is General Secretary until Andropov has real chances to become the first person himself, and on the other, to ensure discredit or elimination of other contenders for the General Secretary.
A powerful ally of Andropov in the implementation of this plan was the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on defense issues and a candidate member of the Politburo, Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov. But, apparently, Ustinov did not guess the ultimate goal of Asropov’s aspirations. He was a supporter of the remaining Brezhnev in the post of General Secretary, as he had unlimited influence on Leonid Ilyich. Thanks to this, Ustinov himself and the issues of improving the country's defense were at the forefront.
A full understanding of Andropov and Ustinov on this issue was established during the preparations for the XXV CPSU Congress, which took place from February 24 to March 5, 1976.
Brezhnev, due to deteriorating health, wanted at this congress to pass on the reins to Grigori Vasilyevich Romanov, who at that time had a reputation as an extremely honest, absolutely not corrupt person, a tough, intelligent technocrat who was prone to social innovations and experiments.
53-year-old Romanov was always tucked up, with gray hair on his temples, he was very impressive. Both this and the sharp mind of Romanov were noted by many foreign leaders.
Romanov was extremely unwelcome to Andropov and Ustinov. He was younger than Andropov by 9 years, Ustinov by 15, and Brezhnev by 17 years. For Andropov, the General Secretary Romanov meant a rejection of plans, and for Ustinov, who was considered the head of the so-called “narrow circle” of the Politburo, which had previously resolved all the most important issues, the loss of a privileged position in the Politburo.
Andropov and Ustinov also understood that Romanov would immediately retire them. In this regard, they, with the support of Suslov, Gromyko and Chernenko, managed to convince Brezhnev of the need to remain as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
Romanov Andropov neutralized the most banal way. A rumor was launched that the wedding of the younger daughter Romanov was held with the “imperial” luxury in the Tauride Palace, for which dishes were taken from the Hermitage’s storerooms. And although the wedding was in 1974, they remembered it for some reason in 1976. As a result, the career of Romanov was stalled.
Distributors of false information about the wedding of Romanov's daughter were made not only by the inhabitants, but also by the first secretaries of city committees and district committees of the CPSU of the north-west of the USSR. They underwent retraining at the courses of the Leningrad Higher Party School, which at that time was located in the Tauride Palace. Being in the courses in 1981, I personally heard this misinformation from the senior teacher of the department of foreign workers Dyachenko, who conducted an excursion for students of the courses in the Tauride Palace. She confided to us that, ostensibly, she was present at this wedding.
Meanwhile, it is known for certain that Romanov did not allow himself any excesses. He lived all his life in a two-room apartment. The wedding of his youngest daughter took place in the state dacha. It was attended by all 10 guests, and Grigori Vasilyevich himself was seriously late for the wedding dinner due to his employment time.
Romanov appealed to the Central Committee of the CPSU with a request to give a public refutation of slander. But in response, he only heard "do not pay attention to the little things." Then Tsekov's clever men would know, and among them was Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko, that with this answer they accelerated the collapse of the CPSU and the USSR ...
But not only Romanov, but also the USSR Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko interfered with Andropov. Due to the fact that during the war Brezhnev served under him, the marshal torpedoed the decisions of the General Secretary more than once. This is not surprising. Stately handsome, almost two meters tall, Andrei Antonovich, by vocation, was a commander. The matter came to the direct attacks of Marshal of the Soviet Union on the General Secretary directly at the meetings of the Politburo. Brezhnev patiently demolished them.
Grechko had no problems with the KGB. But he did not hide his negative attitude to the growth of the bureaucratic structures of the Committee and the strengthening of its influence. This gave rise to a certain tension in his relationship with Andropov. Ustinov also hardly divided the sphere of influence with the Minister of Defense. He, as early as June 1941, who became the People's Commissar of Armaments, considered himself a man who had done more than anyone to strengthen the country's defense capability, and did not need anyone's advice.
And in the evening of April 26 1976, Marshal Grechko arrived after work at the dacha, went to bed and did not wake up in the morning. Contemporaries noted that he, despite his 72 of the year, could give young people a head start in many matters.
Considering that the death of Grechko was involved in the Andropov department is very problematic, if not for one circumstance. Strange is that after the death of the marshal, several more members of the Politburo died in a similar way.
Of course, all people are mortal, but it is strange that they all died somehow very on time ... In 1978, Andropov complained to the main Kremlin physician, Yevgeny Ivanovich Chazov, that he did not know how to transfer Gorbachev to Moscow. A month later, in a “miraculous” way, a vacancy arose, the place of Fedor Davydovich Kulakov, secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU for agricultural issues, was released, just under Gorbachev.
Kulakov, like Grechko, arrived at the dacha, sat with the guests, went to bed and did not wake up. People who knew him closely, argued that Kulakov was healthy, like a bull, did not know what a headache or cold, was an incorrigible optimist. Strange were the circumstances of the death of Kulakov. The night before, the guard and personal doctor attached to each member of the Politburo left his cottage under various pretexts.
He wrote about this in the book “Last Secretary General” Viktor Alekseevich Kaznacheev, the former second secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU, who knew the Kulakov family well. The treasurers also reported another curious fact. 17 July 1978, at half past eight in the morning, Gorbachev called him and very cheerfully, without a single note of regret, said that Kulakov had died. It turns out that Gorbachev learned this news almost simultaneously with the country's top leadership. Strange awareness for the party leader of one of the provincial regions of the country. One feels the trail of Andropov, who favored Gorbachev.
Death Kulakov spawned many rumors. At the dacha, where Fyodor Davydovich died, the chairman of the KGB Andropov himself came with two task forces. Death stated Chazov personally. The detailed, but at the same time very confusing report of the special medical commission headed by him, caused great suspicion among specialists. It was also strange that neither Brezhnev, nor Kosygin, nor Suslov, nor Chernenko came to Red Square for the funeral of Kulakov. At the funeral, they limited themselves to speaking from the rostrum of the Mausoleum of the first secretary of the Stavropol Krai Committee of the Party, M. Gorbachev.
Officially, TASS reported that on the night from 16 to 17 on June 1978, F.D. Kulakov "died of acute heart failure with sudden cardiac arrest." At the same time, the KGB spread rumors that Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee F. Kulakov, after an unsuccessful attempt to seize power, cut his veins ...
No less strangely, the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Semyon Kuzmich Tsvigun, one of the trusted people of Brezhnev, passed away. He, 19 January 1982, that is, 4 a month before Andropov’s transfer from the KGB to the Central Committee of the CPSU, shot himself in the country. People of this rank have many reasons to shoot, but in the case of Zwigun there are too many “buts”.
It seems that someone really did not want this general to head the KGB in the event of Andropov’s departure. At the end of 1981, Tsvigun, who did not complain about his health, at the insistence of the doctors, went to the Kremlin hospital for examination. His daughter Violet was amazed when she found out what drugs were prescribed to her father. He was pumped throughout the day with various tranquilizers.
They try to explain this by the fact that Tsvigun was depressed after an extremely unpleasant conversation with Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov, the second person in the Politburo about Galina Brezhneva's involvement in the case of the stolen diamonds of circus actress Irina Bugrimova. However, it is known for certain that Tsvigun and Suslov did not and could not meet at the end of 1981.
Despite the “strange” course of treatment, Zvigun did not lose his vitality. According to the official version, on the day of the so-called suicide, he and his wife decided to go to the dacha to check how the protracted repair was going. The circumstances of Zwigun's “suicide” are also more than strange. He asked for a pistol from the driver of the car he arrived at, and one went into the house. However, on the porch of the dacha, where no one saw him, he took it and shot himself. I did not leave a suicide note.
Andropov, who arrived at the place of Tsvigun's death, dropped the phrase: “I will not forgive Tsvigun to them!” At the same time, it is known that Tsvigun was a Brezhnev man sent to the KGB to supervise Andropov. Perhaps this phrase Andropov decided to divert suspicion from himself.
Zwigun's daughter Violetta believes that her father was killed. This indirectly confirms the fact that her attempts to get acquainted with the materials of the investigation of the "suicide" of her father were unsuccessful. These documents are not in the archives.
The famous Russian historian N., at the beginning of 2009, gave me new details about Zwigun’s death. It turns out that Tsvigun did not come, but spent the night at the dacha. Before leaving for work, when he was already sitting in the car, the security officer said that Semen Kuzmich was invited to the phone. He returned to the house, and then a fatal shot sounded. Next, the corpse of the general carried out on the street. Believe it or not, this information was allegedly obtained from people who were investigating the circumstances of Zwigun’s death.
By the fall of 1981, Brezhnev's health deteriorated. Chazov informed Andropov about this. He understood that the main contender for the post of General Secretary should work in the Central Committee on Old Square. The traditional problem of vacancy has reappeared. And here Suslov dies in an extremely timely manner ...
Valery Legostaev, former Assistant Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev, tells about this: “Suslov and in the eighth dozen complained about the medical part except for pain in the joints of the arm. He died in January 1982 th original. In the sense of the original, that before his death Chazov’s department successfully passed a planned medical examination: blood from a vein, blood from a finger, an ECG, a bicycle ... And all this, notice, on the best equipment in the USSR, under the supervision of the best Kremlin doctors. The result is normal: there are no special problems, you can go to work. He called his daughter's house, offered to have supper together in the hospital, so that in the morning he would immediately go to work. At dinner, the nurse brought some pills. He drank. Night stroke.
It is noteworthy that Chazov had told Brezhnev in advance of Suslov’s imminent death. The assistant of Brezhnev Alexandrov-Agents told about it in his memoirs. He writes: “At the beginning of 1982, Leonid Ilyich took me to the far corner of his reception room at the Central Committee and, lowering his voice, said:“ Chazov called me. Suslov will die soon. I think to transfer him to the Andropov Central Committee. Indeed, Yuri is stronger than Chernenko - an erudite, creative-minded person. "" As a result, Yuri Vladimirovich 24 May 1982, again becomes secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, but now occupies the office of Suslova.
There is a version that the transfer of Andropov to the Central Committee of the CPSU was carried out on the initiative of Brezhnev, who was frightened by the lack of control and absolute power of the secret service chief. It was not by chance that, at the insistence of the General Secretary, V. Fedorchuk, the chairman of the KGB of Ukraine, a close friend of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine Vladimir Vasilyevich Scherbitsky, who was hostile to Andropov, was appointed instead of Andropov.
In this case, all the talk about what Brezhnev saw in his Andropov his successor is nothing more than speculation. It is also known that Brezhnev was well informed about the health problems of Andropov. At that time, Brezhnev considered his successor to the previously mentioned Scherbitsky.
In 1982, Vladimir Vasilyevich Scherbitsky turned 64, the normal age for the highest statesman. By this time he had a great experience of political and economic work. So he decided to bet on Brezhnev. Well, for calm and better control, the Secretary General decided to transfer Andropov closer to his Central Committee.
Former first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee Viktor Vasilyevich Grishin in his memoirs “From Khrushchev to Gorbachev” wrote: “V. Fedorchuk was transferred from the post of chairman of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR. Surely on the recommendation of V.V. Scherbitsky, perhaps the closest person to L.I. Brezhnev, who, according to rumors, wanted to recommend Scherbitsky, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, at the next Plenum of the Central Committee, and go to the post of Chairman of the Central Committee of the Party himself. ”
Ivan Vasilyevich Kapitonov, who in Brezhnev's times was the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU for personnel, spoke more specifically about this. He recalled: “In mid-October, 1982, Brezhnev called me to him.
- See this chair? he asked, pointing to his workplace. - In a month Scherbitsky will be sitting in it. All personnel issues decide with this in mind. ”
After this conversation at a meeting of the Politburo, it was decided to convene a Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The first was to discuss the question of accelerating scientific and technological progress. The second, closed - organizational question. However, a few days before the plenum, Leonid Ilyich died unexpectedly.
General Secretary Brezhnev at the end of 70-s did not have good health. The feeling of decrepitude created difficulties in his speech and sclerotic forgetfulness (which was the subject of many anecdotes). However, ordinary old people (even without Kremlin care) in a state of deep sclerosis often live very long. Is it possible to consider the natural death of Brezhnev, which followed the night from 9 to 10 in November 1982?
Here is information for consideration. On the eve of the Plenum, Brezhnev decided to enlist the support of Andropov regarding the recommendation of Shcherbitsky’s candidature for the post of General Secretary. On this occasion, he invited Andropov.
V. Legostaev described the day of the meeting between Brezhnev and Andropov: “That day Oleg Zakharov worked as secretary on duty at the General Secretary’s reception, with whom I had long-standing friendly relations ... In the morning of November 9, Medvedev called him from Zavidov, who said that the Secretary General would come to the Kremlin in the 9 clock area and asks to invite Andropov by this time. What was done.
Brezhnev arrived at the Kremlin around 12 in the afternoon hours in a good mood, rested from the festive fuss. As always, he greeted me cordially, joked, and immediately invited Andropov to the office. They talked for a long time, apparently, the meeting was of a normal business nature. I do not have the slightest doubt that Zakharov accurately recorded the fact of the last long meeting of Brezhnev and Andropov. ”
However, after this conversation on the night from 9 to 10 in November 1982, Brezhnev in a dream, like Grechko, Fists and Suslov, died quietly. Again, this death was accompanied by a series of oddities. So, Chazov in the book "Health and Power" states that he received a message about the death of Brezhnev by telephone on 8 in the morning on November 10. However, it is known that the head of the personal security service of Brezhnev, V. Medvedev, in his book “The Man Behind His Back,” reports that he and the officer on duty Sobachenkov entered the Secretary General’s bedroom at about nine o'clock. And only then it turned out that Leonid Ilyich died.
Then Chazov claims that Andropov came after him to Brezhnev’s dacha. However, the wife of Brezhnev, Victoria Petrovna, reported that Andropov appeared even before Chazov arrived, immediately after it became clear that Brezhnev was dead. Without saying a word to anyone, he went into the bedroom, took a small black suitcase there and left.
Then he officially appeared for the second time, pretending that he had not been here. Victoria Petrovna could not answer the question about what was in the suitcase. Leonid Ilyich told her that there was “compromising dirt on all members of the Politburo,” but he spoke with laughter, as if joking.
The son-in-law of Brezhnev, Yury Churbanov, confirmed: “Viktoriya Petrovna said that Andropov had already arrived and took the briefcase that Leonid Ilyich was holding in his bedroom. It was a specially protected "armored" briefcase with complex ciphers. What was there, I do not know. He trusted only one of the bodyguards, the shift supervisor, who drove him everywhere for Leonid Ilyich. He took and left. After Andropov Chazov arrived and recorded the death of the General Secretary.
To believe that this whole chain of deaths and eliminations was carried out in order to nominate Gorbachev is ridiculous. The main character here was Andropov, who sought to become the General Secretary.
By the way, many researchers are perplexed that Andropov, who was disliked by most Politburo members, was 12 of November 1982 of the year to ensure that the Political Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee unanimously recommended him to the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee for the post of Secretary General. Apparently, this support for Andropov was provided by compromising material from Leonid Ilyich’s “armored portfolio”.
In analyzing the mysterious and strange deaths in the highest echelon of the USSR, one cannot disregard Western intelligence agencies, who, by virtue of their possibilities, tried to eliminate or neutralize promising Soviet leaders. There is no doubt that the articles of the Western press, praising Romanov, Kulakov, Masherov as candidates for the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, served as an impetus for their elimination; some politically, others physically.
Given that the evidence about the direct involvement of the KGB in these strange deaths is missing and is unlikely to ever be discovered, we can only hypothetically argue about the role of Andropov in the struggle for power.
There is no doubt that for many years of work in the KGB, Andropov began not only to operate with concepts of special services, but also to act from their positions. For the special services of any country, human life in itself is not a value. The value of a person caught in their field of vision, is determined only by whether it contributes to the achievement of the goal or interferes.
Hence the pragmatic approach: everything that interferes must be eliminated. No emotion, nothing personal, just a calculation. Otherwise, the secret services never solved the tasks assigned to them. Objection is possible: with respect to high-ranking party workers, especially candidates and members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, the possibilities of the KGB were limited.
However, many members of the Politburo of the Brezhnev period recalled that they felt the attention of the KGB every day.
Andropov’s ability to control the highest party elite has increased many times after he managed to win over the head of the 4 General Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health Yevgeny Ivanovich Chazov. Andropov and Chazov were appointed to their posts almost simultaneously, in 1967. They developed very close, if I may say so, relations. This Chazov repeatedly emphasizes in his memoirs.
Andropov and Chazov met regularly. According to Legostaev, their secret meetings took place either on Saturdays in the office of the KGB chairman on Sq. Dzerzhinsky, or at his safe house on the Garden Ring, near the Theater of Satire.
The topic of Andropov and Chazov’s conversations was the state of health of the highest party and state leaders of the USSR, the alignment of forces in the Politburo and, accordingly, possible personnel changes. It is known how attentive the elderly are to the advice of the attending physician. The frankness of senior elderly patients was also quite high. Well, it’s not possible to speak about the possibilities of doctors to influence the physiological and psychological state of patients.
In this regard, you need to tell one historywhich sets out in the book "Temporary workers. The fate of national Russia. Her friends and enemies ”famous Soviet weightlifter, Olympic champion, talented writer Yury Petrovich Vlasov. He cites a unique testimony of a pharmacist at the Kremlin’s pharmacy, who made up medicines for high-ranking patients.
According to the pharmacist, at times a modest, inconspicuous person came to the pharmacy. He was from the KGB. After reviewing the recipes, the “man” piped the dispenser with a package and said: “Add this powder to the patient (tablet, medicine, etc.).”
Everything has been dosed there. These were not poisonous drugs. Supplements simply aggravated the patient's illness and over time he died a natural death. The so-called “programmed death” was launched. (Y. Vlasov. "The Provisionists ..." M., 2005. C. 87).
Most likely, the person who came to the pharmacist was really from the KGB. However, who gave him assignments, it is difficult to say. It is possible that someone "above", fighting for power, cleared his way. But it’s impossible to establish whether the owner of the “KGB man” worked for himself or for someone else.
The secret deadly struggle in the higher echelons for power was also a very convenient cover for the intervention of foreign intelligence services. It is known that not only Kalugin and Gordievsky worked for the KGB in the West.
In confirmation of the fact that in the USSR the sign-board of the special services, as a cover, was often used by people who solved their problems, we present the following fact. In the 1948-1952 in the territory of Western Ukraine and Moldova, which was under the special control of the NKVD, there was a huge private construction organization hiding under the sign of the “Department of Military Construction-10” of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Its leader, the swindler "Colonel" Nikolai Pavlenko, using the atmosphere of secrecy that prevailed in those years, presented his administration as having to do with the fulfillment of special tasks of national importance. This eliminated questions and allowed the pseudo-colonel and his entourage to appropriate all profits from the construction of facilities. At present, Russian television is showing the TV movie "Black Wolves", partly based on the above facts.
If during Stalin's time, swindlers could hide behind the sign of the NKVD, then in the Brezhnev period, agents of the Western special services could hide behind the KGB with no less success. In short, to attribute the strange deaths that occurred during the Brezhnev period, the KGB is problematic. Moreover, the strange untimely death in those years, in most cases, struck the most steadfast adherents of the socialist path of development.
Recall that 20 December 1984, the sudden death overtook Defense Minister Ustinov. Chazov in his book Health and Power (p. 206) writes that “Ustinov’s death itself was to a certain extent ridiculous and left many questions about the causes and nature of the disease.” According to Chazov, it turns out that the Kremlin doctors did not determine from what Ustinov died?
Ustinov fell ill after conducting joint exercises of the Soviet and Czechoslovak troops in Czechoslovakia. Chazov notes “a surprising coincidence - about the same time, General Dzur also fell ill with the same clinical picture”, the then Minister of Defense of Czechoslovakia, who conducted exercises with Ustinov.
Meanwhile, the official cause of death of Dmitry Ustinov and Martin Dzura is “acute heart failure”. For the same reason, two more ministers of defense died during 1985: Heinz Hoffmann, the Minister of National Defense of the GDR and Istvan Olah, the Minister of Defense of the Hungarian People's Republic.
A number of researchers believe that these deaths thwarted the planned entry in 1984 of the Soviet, Czechoslovak, Gedeer and Hungarian troops into Poland. However, whether the deaths of the ministers of defense of the Warsaw Pact countries were the work of Western intelligence agencies, while remains unknown. But the fact that the American special services considered the physical elimination of the leaders of other states to be normal is not a secret. Only the leader of the Cuban revolution, F. Castro, more than six hundred attempts were made, a number of them with the help of poisons.
As for the testimony of the old pharmacist, it is not confirmed by anyone or anyone except Y. Vlasov. But it cannot be ignored, since the information comes from a person who always, in Brezhnev and in troubled Yeltsin time, personified the “conscience of the Russian people”.
The pharmacist was convinced that only Vlasov would dare to publicize his confession and thereby help to remove sin from his soul. This is what happened. But we will not demonize this evidence, as confirmation of the "inhumanity" of the Soviet regime. The struggle for power, even “to the grave”, is also characteristic of Western democracies, and in general for all times ... Suffice to say that today it has actually been proved that one of the leaders of the conspiracy that led to the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963, was vice president L. Johnson.
It is known that historians prefer to make a final assessment of the reliability of certain events, based on documentary evidence. However, in some cases, even the availability of official documents can not guarantee the establishment of truth.
Sometimes eyewitness accounts are worth more than a mountain of documents. So in our case. Evidence of the old pharmacist, apparently, should be taken as sufficiently weighty evidence about the methods of struggle for power that took place on the Kremlin Olympus.
It is claimed that Gorbachev initially participated in this struggle. It is difficult to agree with this. Before the death of Brezhnev, Gorbachev was only an extra in the struggle of Andropov for power. But on the eve of the death of Andropov, which followed in February 1984, Gorbachev was actively involved in this struggle.
But then he lost.
The members of the Politburo preferred to make a bet on the predictable, convenient, though mortally ill Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko. The election of a weak old man as the head of a great power was evidence that the system of higher political power in the USSR was seriously, or rather, fatally ill.
For Gorbachev, the election of a feeble Chernenko meant the beginning of the last crucial stage of the struggle for power. As subsequent events showed, Mikhail Sergeevich was able to masterfully implement his plans to attain the post of General Secretary.
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