Did Russian secret services avert military coup in Sverdlovsk?

[Magda Hassan]

The Russian intelligence services arrested members of an illegal paramilitary unit that planned an armed insurrection in one of central Russia's biggest cities. According to reports from Yekaterinburg, the administrative capital Russia's Sverdlovsk province, leaders of the alleged paramilitary unit hoped that their action would lead to a nationwide rebellion, eventually resulting in a military coup in Moscow. Several people were arrested by security forces of the FSB, Russia's Federal Security Service a few days before August 2, the day when the alleged insurrection was to have taken place. Sources from the FSB say that the plotters were working on a four-step plan of action. First, they planned to attack the FSB's Sverdlovsk district command center, the Russian Ministry of the Interior's regional headquarters, as well as the offices of Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations, and capture or kill all senior staff. They would then blow up key power stations around Yekaterinburg, effectively shutting down the city's electricity network. Taking advantage of the widespread confusion among the regional security apparatus and the population, they would move to seize local weapons depots. The alleged insurrection plan called for distributing the seized weapons among members of Yekaterinburg's urban poor, in an attempt to widen the base of the rebellion. The plan's final step viewed a widening insurrection in Yekaterinburg as a spark that would trigger similar Libya-style uprisings across Russia, resulting in a coup that would depose the current government in Moscow and replace it with a transitional military regime. According to news reports, the FSB arrested several leaders of the alleged insurrection, including former members of the Russian military, who are said to be linked with the People's Militia, an insurrectionist group composed by former military and intelligence officials, led by Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov. Kvachkov, a retired Colonel in the Russian Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU), was arrested in December of 2010 on charges of planning "an armed rebellion for the forceful seizure of power in Russia". In an editorial on the arrests in Yekaterinburg, The Moscow Times notes that "it is inconceivable that anyone in the Kremlin or White House [the Russian state's administrative headquarters in Moscow] would seriously believe that these misfits could have overthrown the government". The editorial adds that "the only threat to the existing regime is if oil drops below $100 per barrel". Later on, however, it censures the fact that the Russian media and public have remained indifferent toward this story. "A country that did experience a very real attempt at a military coup 20 years ago now shows little concern over the threat of a new one", concludes the paper.
http://intelligencenews.wordpress.com/20...09/01-784/

[Magda Hassan]

Google translation of Russian article.

Ekaterinburg: GKChP won?
08.08.2011 YDAB11 1699 156 18
Tags: ussr , history , Yekaterinburg , Emergency Committee

On the eve of 20th anniversary of the attempted military coup in the Soviet Union FSB failed to prevent another military revolt. As reported by the journalists of the Urals, Yekaterinburg arrested five alleged organizers of the coup: among them 65-year veteran of the Afghan war, a businessman and a retired criminal investigator.

Plan revolt was as follows: August 2, when the main forces of the police are left to control airborne daring, attack a group of militants burst into the local department of the FSB, Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Emergency Situations and killing their superiors. After that blow up several electrical substations and deprive the city of electricity. In a panic, which is believed the plotters, inevitably cover Yekaterinburg, they will be able to capture weapons caches and give machines the whole male population. Then in other regions of Russia will start a chain reaction of riots. In the end, plotters seize all power in the country and establish a military dictatorship. Investigators suspect that the attackers are associated with a retired Special Forces colonel Kvachkov, who unsuccessfully tried to condemn the assassination of Anatoly Chubais. Kvachkov and is now in jail because he was suspected of trying to organize an armed rebellion. If you believe the investigators, the rebellion was under the scenario to become Yekaterinburg. Last summer in the woods near Vladimir thence security officers detained leader Togliatti cell kvachkovskogo "People's Militia of Minin and Pozharsky name" Peter coll. Galkin was armed. In his hand was ... crossbow. The detainee immediately gave testimony to Kvachkov. According to the concept of a retired colonel, half a thousand ex-military, armed, obviously, crossbows, were to meet in the Vladimir region, seize the arsenals of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and Highland Armored Division and then head to the side of Moscow.

I suspect that try to interest publishers by a thriller with a similar story, he still would have knocked their thresholds no chance of success. Because even the most daring fiction requires at least some connection with reality. Most of these plans look like gibberish of a Russian Breivik. Why would the death of chiefs of regional departments of intelligence and power outages to cause panic? Panicked why people should take the side of the rebels? Finally, to implement this plan, you have thousands of fighters and, therefore, an extensive underground organization, the existence of which until now no one noticed. Yekaterinburg is most impressive budget of a military coup - as much as 50 thousand rubles. Well just to known humoresque: a dozen more to bribe the President.

If Ekaterinburg Cheka arrested a nutcase who is a prisoner of such schemes, we should thank them. But when the same hallucinations appear immediately a few people, it smells like a provocation. Perhaps efesbeshniki not have been successful in the fight against the North Caucasian terrorists, the country's leadership decided to show their vigilance. Perhaps this is some preventive action after the December meeting of retired Marines. If so, nice security officers have selected several people with not too stable psyche and convinced them of the existence of a powerful underground anti-government organization. Finally, it is not excluded that the rights of the lawyer of one of the detainees. In his version, they are, it turns out, is not developed plans for a military coup, and the scenario playing airsoft. For all the strangeness of this explanation (to me, frankly, it's hard to imagine that the 65-year veteran of the Afghan war may be carried away by war games and shooting plastic balls), it is much more logical than the one that offered the investigating authorities.

The most interesting is that this story does not excite nor journalists nor the public. Countries emerging from 20 years ago, a very real attempt a military coup, is now such a threat did not touch them. The tragedy is a farce. 10 years ago, the question of whether military intervention in political life, vigorously debated. Besieged in the White House called Rutskoi troops to his aid. Chairman of the Duma defense committee, Lev Rokhlin sent dispatches to the commanders of military units with calls not to obey orders of the Supreme Commander. And this turn of events seemed, at least, the real military, for six months did not receive a salary, to rebel.
And then suddenly came the universal goodness. About the military coup only dream kvachkovtsy, which the KGB used to demonstrate their own vigilance. On the eve of the election authority quietly spends quite painful reforms in the Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry, which resulted in lost work about 350 thousand 30-40-year-old men who know how to handle weapons. It would seem - that's almost an exact repeat of the situation in the Weimar Republic. Unemployed angry security officials - the perfect army to Kvachkov. But nothing like this happens.

So what - that is, a real victory for democracy when a society no longer afraid of the "man with a gun?" Not at all, there is still no civilian control over security forces. Department of Defense and Interior continue to be a "state within a state", accountable only to two superiors.

Part of the reason for this peace of mind - in some, albeit very relative, but full. Shalye oil money allow retirees to promise benefits, and most importantly - free accommodation. In addition, they are not threatened unemployment. Since the Interior Ministry finally ceased to function, private security market is growing by leaps and bounds. And there is resentment for sewer trained Vladimir Zhirinovsky, delicately combining nationalism and great power with servility. And finally, the main thing. Senior officers became a corporation, great built-in Putin's vertical. All of them are quite wealthy. As with other Russian officials, their wives, children and other relatives - an extremely talented entrepreneurs. If they conflict with the authorities, it is only about the size of the piece, which allowed them to grab. The pillars of the regime, and not rebels. And with crossbows let losers like Kvachkov run. GKChP won, forget it. At least as long as the oil yield of more than $ 100 a barrel ...

Alexander Golts
Source: ej.ru

http://www.newsland.ru/news/detail/id/754974/cat/48/

[Magda Hassan]

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused ex-intelligence officer Vladimir Kvachkov of preparing an armed rebellion for the forceful seizure of power in Russia, business daily Kommersant reported on Saturday.
Kvachkov was arrested on Thursday a day after Russia's Supreme Court upheld his acquittal in a high-profile case of an assassination attempt in 2005 on Anatoly Chubais, former head of the UES electricity giant and architect of post-Soviet reforms.
According to Russia's FSB, Kvachkov, as head of the headquarters of the Minin and Pozharsky public militia group, plotted to seize weapons in several military units and organize an armed march on Moscow for the forceful overthrow of power, the paper reported.
Kvachkov's defense, however, has said the FSB's allegations are unfounded, the paper reported.
Kvachkov himself has denied the accusations, saying they are based on false allegations that he and members of an organization he leads were plotting a coup.
MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101225/161928997.html

[Magda Hassan]

FSB Turns Paintball Games Into Military Coups
08 August 2011
By Alexander Golts
As is well known, tragic events often repeat as a farce. As the 20th anniversary of the attempted military coup of August 1991 approaches, journalists in Yekaterinburg reported that the Federal Security Service was able to avert a military rebellion.

The suspected organizers of the alleged coup attempt who were arrested in Yekaterinburg include a 65-year-old veteran of the Afghan War, a businessman and a retired criminal investigator. Their plot called for shock troops to start the rebellion on Aug. 2, when most police would be busy trying to keep Paratroopers Day celebrations from turning into inebriated fistfights and other displays of public disorder.

The rebels were to force their way into the Yekaterinburg offices of the Federal Security Service, the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Interior Ministry and kill the top officials there. Next, they planned to blow up several electricity stations and shut down power to the city.

Once panic would have spread throughout the city, the rebels were to seize local weapons depots and distribute machine guns to men young and old. That, they hoped, would trigger a chain reaction of similar revolts across Russia, allowing the rebels to ultimately seize power in Moscow and set up a military dictatorship.


Investigators suspect that the plotters are linked to retired special forces Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, who is currently in prison on charges of attempting to organize a previous armed rebellion.

One year ago, officials arrested Pyotr Galkin in the woods outside the city of Vladimir, 200 kilometers east of Moscow. He is the head of the Tolyatti branch of Kvachkov's organization, the People's Militia. Galkin, who was found armed with a crossbow, was trying to recruit 500 former military personnel, also armed with crossbows, in the Vladimir region. His strategy was to seize the missile and artillery arsenal located in Vladimir and, along with the Kovrov tank division, advance toward Moscow.

Not even the world's most talented fiction writer could dream up such a plot. It resembles a Russian version of Norway's Anders Breivik that is, one crazy man against the world. Why would the murder of siloviki officials and an electrical blackout in an isolated Ural city spark panic across Russia? And why would citizens side with the rebels?

The whole thing smacks of a setup. After failing to curb terrorism in the North Caucasus, this might have been a desperate attempt by FSB operatives to show the Kremlin that they are vigilant and competent in protecting the motherland against serious threats to national security. Or it might be a preventative measure following a December protest by retired paratroopers. It is inconceivable, however, that anyone in the Kremlin or White House would seriously believe that these misfits could have overthrown the government.

The most logical explanation of what really happened was given by one of the lawyers of the suspected mutineers. The "rebels" were not planning a military coup at all; they were only playing an elaborate game of paintball.

The most interesting aspect of this story is that the media and the public have remained largely indifferent toward it. A country that did experience a very real attempt at a military coup 20 years ago now shows little concern over the threat of a new one. As recently as 10 years ago, there was a passionate debate as to whether the military could interfere in political matters. In October 1993, when former Vice President Alexander Rutskoi was besieged in the White House, he called on the military to come to his aid. State Duma Defense Committee chairman General Lev Rokhlin issued instructions to unit commanders not to carry out orders from their commander in chief. At that time, the likelihood of a military coup was high, particularly considering that soldiers had not been paid in six months.

But by the late 1990s, this period of chaos and instability had thankfully passed and has been replaced by more than a decade of relative calm and self-restraint. Only Kvachkov and some of his followers still dream of military coups. Even during the run-up to State Duma and presidential elections, the authorities have no concerns about implementing sweeping, severe reforms to the military and Interior Ministry that have taken jobs away from more than 350,000 men between the ages of 30 and 40, most of whom have been trained to carry firearms. On first glance, this would seem to be a replication of the Weimar Republic, in which hundreds of thousands of unemployed and embittered members of the police and armed forces were itching to avenge the government.

But Russia is much calmer and more stable than Weimar was. The reason for the current calm is a certain sense of complacency. The plethora of oil dollars has allowed the government to promise laid-off military personnel benefits above all, free housing and some have actually received these benefits. What's more, fired siloviki have little trouble finding work in the private sector. The demand for private security firms has grown rapidly over the past decade if for no other reason than because the police are too incompetent and corrupt to do their jobs properly. Finally, to distract (and entertain) the discontent, the government employs the boisterous Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, who has been specially trained to combine nationalism and superpower ambitions with servility before the authorities.

But the most important factor ensuring stability is that the siloviki who are most angry have no real leaders to fight for their interests. Senior military officers have become remarkably well integrated into Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's power vertical. All of them are quite wealthy, and their wives, children and relatives have become adept at using their connections to build lucrative businesses. If any of them do bicker with the government, it is only regarding the size of the piece of the pie they have been allowed to grab. These people, sitting comfortably at the top of the siloviki structure, are the pillars of support for the ruling regime. The last thing they are thinking about is rebelling against the hand that feeds them so well.

So let Kvachkov and his occasional follower dart about the woods with their crossbows, playing their paintball games. The only threat to the existing regime is if oil drops below $100 per barrel.



Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/ar...z1UaAGJMeV
The Moscow Times

[Peter Lemkin]

Hmmm..... Interesting.... but a provocation or some sort of real discontent?! [Or...psyop]? While I do not doubt that many to most in Russia are discontent on some level with the current way life is going, I'm not sure if they would follow Robin Hood and his merry men...maybe. It seems to me there are few countries about these days not ripe for a revolution. May it happen...everywhere. The exact reasons differ in each place; the basic reasons are everywhere the same.....as in Tottenham, as in Yetakaterinaberg.

..talkin' about a R - E - V - O - L -U - T - I - O - N..........

[Magda Hassan]

I am trying to work out the shifts in the siloviki alignments which have been shifting and sifting in recent years but which I have not had much time for. A mistake. I was also thinking of Oslo and Far West with regards to this

[Jan Klimkowski]

I am trying to work out the shifts in the siloviki alignments which have been shifting and sifting in recent years but which I have not had much time for. A mistake. I was also thinking of Oslo and Far West with regards to this

Magda - please keep sleuthing....