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Published on: CN

August 21, 1991

Mariinsky Palace, Kiev. At 3:30 a.m., Belyaev comes out and tells the crowd that he has received a message from Moscow regarding the withdrawal of the troops besieging the White House. At the Kronstadt naval base, the commander also announces his opposition to the ongoing coup. The director of the Russian Federation’s KGB orders the regional directorates to take no action.