Oleg Semyonovich Shenin

Shenin's tomb in the Trojekurovo cemetery in Moscow

Oleg Semjonowitsch Schenin ( Russian Олег Семёнович Шенин , scientific transliteration Oleg Semënovič Šenin ; born July 22, 1937 in Stalingrad Oblast ; † May 28, 2009 in Moscow ) was a Soviet and Russian communist politician. In 1991 he was one of the initiators of the August coup against Gorbachev .

Life

Ascent

Shenin from 1987 to 1990 First Secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Krasnoyarsk . From 1990 to 1991 he was in the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and at the same time a full member of the Politburo of the CPSU . From 1987 to 1990 he was - according to Gorbachev - “a sincere supporter of perestroika ” in the newly formed Communist Party of the Soviet Union . As the Central Committee secretary, he was in a key position responsible for looking after the Central Committee's organizational and party work department.

The 1991 coup

He became known together with Vice-President Janajew , Defense Minister Marshal Yasov , Interior Minister Pugo , Prime Minister Pavlov , KGB chief Kryuchkov and the Central Committee Secretaries Boldin, Baklanov and Lukyanov (also chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR) as co-initiator of the coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 On August 18, 1991 he appeared together u. a. with Baklanov, Boldin and Army General Warennikov (Supreme Commander of the USSR Ground Forces and Deputy Defense Minister) in Gorbachev's vacation dacha in Foros ( Crimea ). Their attempt to persuade Gorbachev to resign failed, as did the coup in Moscow over the next three days. As a result of the conspiracy, Gorbachev's power waned, the CPSU was banned from the RSFSR , and in late 1991 the collapse of the Soviet Union was sealed. Schenin was arrested, but the putschists were given amnesty as early as 1992/93.

Political work after 1993

After the re-establishment (1993) of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), Schenin initially also worked in this party. He became chairman of the Union of Communist Parties of the Soviet Union , in 2001 Gennady Zyuganov replaced him in this office. The substantial content-related and personal conflicts between the party leader of the KPRF Gennady Zyuganov and Shenin led in 2001 to Shenin and others splitting off from the KPRF and forming a new Communist Party in the Russian Federation. However, this small party did not gain any special significance in Russia.

In 2008, Schenin brought himself up for discussion again as a possible candidate for the office of President of Russia. But he was not put up as a candidate.

Quotes

• The win was of course possible. Because at that time it was firstly about defending the constitutional order of the USSR and secondly we had enormous support for our work from all walks of life in the first 24 hours. We would not have lost if we had properly prepared for the coup (...) Gorbachev played the worst role in the proceedings: he simply waited passively to see how it ended. In the end, he made it possible for Yeltsin to play the role of the triumphant on the tank. (Shenin on the August putsch, in Izvestia on August 19, 1995)

Web links

• Materials on Shenin on the Krasnoyarsk Territory homepage (Russian)

literature

• Mikhail Gorbachev: Memories . Siedler-Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-88680-524-7 .