Attempted coup d'etat in the USSR in 1991

August 19-21, 1991. USSR. Moscow. Supporters of USSR President Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev and RSFSR President Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, activists of the Democratic Russia movement during a meeting after the announcement of a state of emergency in the country. In order to prevent the signing of the Union Treaty, which was to replace the USSR with a new federation of sovereign states, representatives of the highest Soviet leadership, headed by USSR Vice President Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev, removed the president of the USSR from power and declared a state of emergency in the country. The exact date of the filming is unknown. Vladimir Sayapin/TASS