Gang of Eight (Soviet Union)

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The Gang of Eight^[1] was a group of eight conspirators holding top level positions within the KGB and the CPSU who conspired a coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev from 18 August 1991-20 August 1991.

The group consisted of top personnel close to Gorbachev within the Politburo, CPSU, and KGB.

The eight members of the so called State Emergency Committee were arrested. They were:

Gennady Yanayev, Soviet Vice President; today is a pension fund consultant
Vladimir Kryuchkov, head of the KGB; has since written his memoirs; died in 2007
Dmitry Yazov, Soviet Defense Minister and Marshal of the Soviet Union; now an advisor to an arms exporter
Valentin Pavlov, Soviet Prime Minister; eventually became a banker; died in 2003
Oleg Baklanov, of the Soviet Defense Council
Vasily Starodubtsev, member of the Soviet Parliament
Alexander Tizyakov, president of state enterprises, industrial construction, transport, and communications.
The eighth member, Interior Minister Boris Pugo, shot himself to avoid arrest.

The attempted coup has been considered over time more as a desire to maintain power and control over the Soviet Union in the face of Gorbachev's democratic and economic reforms that led to the political and economic decline of the USSR.