Attempted coup d'etat in the USSR in 1991

USSR. Moscow. One of the founders of the Memorial Society and the political movement Democratic Russia Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomarev and the Soviet party and state figure, one of the founders of the Russian Movement for Democratic Reforms Aleksandr Nikolaevich Yakovlev (from left to right) speaking from the balcony of the Mossovet building on Sovetskaya Square at a rally in support of democracy and the President of the USSR Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev during an attempt by members of the State Committee for the State of Emergency in the USSR (GKChP) to carry out a coup in the country. Andrei Solovyov, Gennady Khamelyanin/TASS