He says the men may be little known now. But eventually, people in the 15 nations that emerged from the Soviet Union will appreciate their actions.
Agreement came from Lyubova Komar, mother of one of the men, Dmitry Komar. He was a 22-year-old mechanic when he was caught under the treads of a tank and crushed to death.
Carrying a bouquet of red roses, she says in an interview with VOA that Russia will probably only appreciate her son’s sacrifice on the 50th anniversary of his death. Now, she doubts that history books write more than three words about the event.
The small gathering of 75 people Saturday seems a world away from the events of 20 years ago, when as many as half a million Muscovites turned out to block the coup.
Twenty years ago, a few weeks after the failed coup, I drove past the site. It was a typical communist tableau, an intersection bounded by shabby state stores and dingy government institutes.
Today, the small stone memorial is framed by a French health food restaurant and a South Korean luxury hotel, where the rooftop bar sells champagne at $80 a glass.
As drivers of luxury cars honked their horns at the inconvenience of a street closing, Gennady Nikolaevich Veretilnii, says Russia has taken the wrong path.
He says Russia is now run by “a dictatorship of the oligarchs.” Fingering his right shoulder where a Soviet tank commander shot him during the coup attempt, he says he now wonders if democracy will ever come to Russia.
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2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27
2013-11-27