Yanayev

Gennady Yanayev was a Soviet politician who served as the Vice President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and held various positions within the party and government before his vice presidency. Yanayev was born in the Gorky Oblast in 1937. He joined the Communist Party in 1966 and worked his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming a member of the Politburo. His role as Vice President was largely ceremonial, but he gained notoriety for his involvement in the August 1991 coup attempt. During this event, Yanayev, as the acting president, announced that President Mikhail Gorbachev was incapacitated and that the State Committee on the State of Emergency had assumed power. The coup ultimately failed, leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Following the coup's failure, Yanayev was arrested and charged with treason. He was later released and retired from public life, passing away in 1999.

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