LENINGRAD'S COMMUNISTS UNREPENTANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LENINGRAD 04146


E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR UR
SUBJECT: LENINGRAD'S COMMUNISTS UNREPENTANT


1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY: IN A REMARKABLE MONOLOGUE WHICH
REFLECTED MORE ABOUT THE CURRENT TORTURED THINKING OF
COMMUNIST APPARATCHIKS THAN REALITY, 0. L. ZOLOTAREV,
AIDE TO LENINGRAD COMMUNIST PARTY FIRST SECRETARY
GIDASPOV, ASSERTED AUGUST 28 THAT:

- GIDASPOV HAD NOT BEEN INVOLVED IN THE AUGUST 19-21
COUP, THOUGH HE HAD SERVED ON LENINGRAD'S
"EXTRAORDINARY COMMITTEE;"

- GIDASPOV HAD NOT KNOWN WHO HAD FORMED THE COMMITTEE
OR WHY HE WAS INVITED TO SERVE;

- THE COMMUNIST PARTY WOULD RISE INEVITABLY AGAIN,
ACCORDING TO THE "DIALECTIC;"

- THE CURRENT "TIME OF TROUBLES" COULD ONLY END WITH
A CRACKDOWN OR "IRON FIST" WITHIN FIVE YEARS.

ZOLOTAREV ALSO STATED THAT GIDASPOV WOULD VOLUNTARILY
COOPERATE WITH THE INVESTIGATION OF THE LENINGRAD
PROCURATOR'S OFFICE INTO HIS ACTIVITIES DURING THE
COUP, DESPITE THE "ILLEGAL" SEIZURE OF COMMUNIST
PARTY HEADQUARTERS BY THE CITY GOVERNMENT. END
SUMMARY.


3. LENINGRAD CONOFFS HAD AN IMPROMPTU MEETING AUGUST
28 WITH OLEG LEONARDOVICH ZOLOTAREV, AIDE TO FIRST
SECRETARY OF THE LENINGRAD OBKOM OF THE CPSU, BORIS
VENIAMINOVICH GIDASPOV. ALONG WITH OTHER LENINGRAD
DIPLOMATS, CONOFFS HAD BEEN CALLED TO A "PRESS
CONFERENCE" WITH GIDASPOV; THE FIRST SECRETARY FAILED
TO APPEAR FOR THE MEETING BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN ASKED
TO SUBMIT TO A "VOLUNTARY" INTERROGATION BY THE
LENINGRAD PROCURATOR'S OFFICE REGARDING HIS ROLE IN
THE AUGUST 19-21 COUP ATTEMPT. INSTEAD, GIDASPOV'S
ASSISTANT, ZOLOTAREV, GAVE AN OFF-THE-CUFF BRIEFING
ON THE LENINGRAD COMMUNIST PARTY'S CURRENT TRAVAILS
-- AND OUTLOOK ON THE FUTURE.

SEIZURE OF SMOLNIY ILLEGAL?
--------------


4. ZOLOTAREV BEGAN BY EXPLAINING THAT FIRST
SECRETARY GIDASPOV HAD GONE TO THE LENINGRAD
PROCURATOR'S OFFICE TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, TO LODGE A
FORMAL COMPLAINT ABOUT THE "ILLEGAL" SEIZURE OF THE
SMOLNIY INSTITUTE, LENINGRAD'S COMMUNIST PARTY
HEADQUARTERS. WHEN SMOLNIY HAD BEEN SEALED SATURDAY,
AUGUST 24, ZOLOTAREV COMPLAINED, THE MVD HAD NOT
SHOWN ANY PAPERS. NOR HAD THERE BEEN A
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PROCURATOR'S OFFICE PRESENT.
THE MILITIA HAD CLAIMED THEY WERE ACTING ON A DECREE
FROM YEL'TSIN (COMMENT: PRESUMABLY YEL'TSIN'S DECREE
OUTLAWING THE COMMUNIST PARTY),ZOLOTAREV EXPLAINED,
BUT THEY DID NOT SHOW A COPY OF THE DECREE.


5. RETREATING SOMEWHAT, ZOLOTAREV ADMITTED THAT THE
CITY GOVERNMENT PROBABLY ENJOYED THE RIGHT TO
REOCCUPY THE SMOLNIY INSTITUTE AS IT WAS "CITY
PROPERTY" WHICH THE COMMUNIST PARTY HAD BEEN
RENTING. "ANY LANDLORD CAN BREAK A LEASE," HE
EXPLAINED. YET THIS RIGHT TO BREAK A LEASE,
ZOLOTAREV INSISTED, SHOULD BE EXERCISED ACCORDING TO
DUE PROCESS -- NOT BY UNILATERAL ACTION.

GIDASPOV STILL IMMUNE?
--------------


6. APOLOGIZING FOR GIDASPOV'S INABILITY TO RECEIVE
THE DIPLOMATS, ZOLOTAREV EXPLAINED THAT A
REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE PROCURATOR'S OFFICE HAD
APPEARED UNEXPECTEDLY THAT MORNING AND REQUESTED TO
MEET WITH GIDASPOV. THOUGH GIDASPOV STILL ENJOYED
IMMUNITY BY VIRTUE OF HIS STATUS AS A DEPUTY TO THE
USSR CONGRESS OF PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES, ZOLOTAREV
EXPLAINED, GIDASPOV HAD VOLUNTARILY AGREED TO GIVE AN
"EXPLANATION" OF HIS ROLE IN THE AUGUST 19-21 COUP TO
THE PROCURATOR'S OFFICE. (COMMENT: POST NOTES THAT
SEVERAL OTHER SUSPECTED COUP PLOTTERS HAVE BEEN
RELIEVED OF THEIR IMMUNITY AFTER THEY REFUSED TO
COOPERATE WITH SIMILAR INVESTIGATIONS; GIDASPOV
CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT IF HE REFUSED TO
COOPERATE, HE WOULD SHORTLY HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF HIS
IMMUNITY. END COMMENT.)

GIDASPOV INNOCENT BYSTANDER
--------------


7. GIDASPOV, ZOLOTAREV CLAIMED, HAD KNOWN NOTHING OF
THE COUP BEFORE IT TOOK PLACE. FURTHERMORE, HE HAD
NEVER ACTUALLY SUPPORTED IT; RATHER, HE HAD BEEN
CAUGHT UP IN EVENTS AND BEEN UNABLE TO EXTRICATE
HIMSELF FROM GUILT BY ASSOCIATION. ACCORDING TO
ZOLOTAREV, GIDASPOV HAD AWOKEN AT 7:00 A.M. ON
MONDAY, AUGUST 19, AND HEARD ON THE RADIO NEWS OF THE
COUP. GIDASPOV HAD IMMEDIATELY GONE TO HIS OFFICE
AND SPOKEN WITH COLONAL-GENERAL SAMSONOV, HEAD OF THE
LENINGRAD MILITARY DISTRICT, WHO HAD BEEN NAMED AS
HEAD OF LENINGRAD'S PUTATIVE "EXTRAORDINARY
COMMITTEE." DURING THE CONVERSATION, GIDASPOV HAD
LEARNED THAT HE, TOO, WAS A MEMBER OF THE
"EXTRAORDINARY COMMITTEE" FOR LENINGRAD. GIDASPOV
SERVED ON THIS COMMITTEE, ZOLOTAREV UNEQUIVOCALLY
ASSERTED, IN HIS CAPACITY AS A MEMBER OF LENINGRAD'S
MILITARY COMMITTEE AND NOT IN HIS CAPACITY AS FIRST
SECRETARY OF THE OBLAST CPSU. GIDASPOV HAD ATTENDED
TWO MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE ON AUGUST 19, INCLUDING
ONE IN WHICH MAYOR SOBCHAK HAD ADDRESSED THE
COMMITTEE. ZOLOTAREV BALDLY STATED THAT GIDASPOV HAD
AT NO TIME SUCCEEDED IN DETERMINING EITHER WHO HAD
CREATED THE COMMITTEE, WHO HAD NAMED ITS MEMBERS OR
WHY HE HIMSELF HAD BEEN NAMED A MEMBER. (COMMENT:
ZOLOTAREV NEVER EXPLAINED WHY, IF GIDASPOV HAD NOT
SUPPORTED THE COUP AS CLAIMED, HE HAD NOT REFUSED TO
SERVE ON THE COMMITTEE. END COMMENT.)


8. ZOLOTAREV REPORTED THAT GIDASPOV SPENT THE NEXT
DAY OF THE COUP, AUGUST 20, "PREPARING FOR THE
UPCOMING PARTY PLENUM, AT WHICH HE WAS SCHEDULED TO
GIVE AN IMPORTANT REPORT." GIDASPOV, ZOLOTAREV
ASSURED CONOFFS, HAD NEVER GONE TO MOSCOW (COMMENT:
AS WAS WIDELY REPORTED IN THE SOVIET PRESS) BUT HAD
REMAINED IN LENINGRAD. THE REPORTS OF GIDASPOV'S
PHANTOM MOSCOW TRIP WERE "DISINFORMATION," ZOLOTAREV
CLAIMED, AIMED AT "DISCREDITING" THE FIRST SECRETARY.

LOCAL COMMUNIST PARTY NEWSPAPER DEFECTS
--------------


9. ZOLOTAREV REPORTED MATTER-OF-FACTLY THAT THE
"WORKING COLLECTIVE" OF LENINGRAD PRAVDA, THE PARTY'S
PRIMARY NEWSPAPER IN THE CITY, HAD DETERMINED TO
BECOME INDEPENDENT AND RENAME THE PAPER TO "SANKT
PETERBURGSKIYE VEDOMOSTI". THE LOCAL PARTY HAD NOT
BEEN INVOLVED IN THE DECISION, ZOLOTAREV SAID, AND
HAD "NO COMMENT" ON THE PAPER'S CHANGE OF STATUS.
HENCEFORTH, HE EXPLAINED, THE PARTY WOULD HAVE TO
RELY ON ITS NEWSWEEKLY "RABOCHIY LENINGRAD" TO GET
ITS VIEWS ACROSS TO THE PUBLIC. (COMMENT: ACCORDING
TO CONSULATE'S PRESS CONTACTS, THE ENTIRE WORKERS'
COLLECTIVE OF THE PAPER WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FIRED AND
THE PAPER IS NOW BEING RUN BY THE LENINGRAD CITY
COUNCIL. END COMMENT)

PARTY UNREPENTANT, BUT CONFUSED
--------------


10. ZOLOTAREV THEN LAUNCHED INTO A RAMBLING,
SOMEWHAT CONFUSED DISCOURSE ON THE CURRENT POSITION
AND LIKELY FUTURE OF THE PARTY, DURING WHICH HE:

- COMPARED THE CURRENT STATE OF THE SOVIET UNION TO
THE "TIME OF TROUBLES" (SMUTNOE VREMYA) DURING THE
REIGN OF BORIS GODUNOV. THAT PERIOD OF CHAOS,
ZOLOTAREV CONFIDENTLY ASSURED CONOFFS, HAD ENDED WITH
AN "IRON FIST," AS WOULD THE CURRENT PERIOD OF CHAOS
INEVITABLY END WITH A CRACKDOWN "WITHIN FIVE YEARS."
INDEED, ZOLOTAREV REMARKED, THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN
THE TWO PERIODS WERE UNCANNY: "IN THE TIME OF
TROUBLES, THE RUSSIAN CHURCH HAD BEEN PERSECUTED AND
ROBBED. SO TOO, TODAY, THE PARTY -- WHICH IS, IN A
SENSE, A CHURCH IN THAT IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
IDEOLOGY -- IS BEING PERSECUTED AND ROBBED OF ITS
PROPERTY;"

- CLAIMED THAT, WHILE THE MEMBERSHIP OF LENINGRAD'S
PARTY HAD FALLEN FROM 460,000 A YEAR AGO TO 300,000
CURRENTLY, THE FALL WAS ONLY TEMPORARY. ACCORDING TO
"THE DIALECTIC," THE PARTY WOULD INEVITABLY RISE
AGAIN. IT WAS ONLY "A MATTER OF TIME."

- ACCUSED SHEVARDNADZE, YAKOVLEV AND GORBACHEV OF
BECOMING THE "LIQUIDATORS" OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY.
THEY HAD LIQUIDATED THE PARTY IN THE PAST FEW YEARS
BY STIFLING "ALL INTIATIVE." INDEED, THOUGH THERE
WERE OVER 100 SUPREME SOVIET DEPUTIES FROM THE
COMMUNIST PARTY, THEY HAD BEEN "HELD BACK" BY THE
LIQUIDATORS. AS A RESULT, THE COMMUNIST DEPUTIES HAD
NOT INTIATED "A SINGLE DECREE OR NEW LAW" DURING THE
PAST YEAR;

- PREDICTED THAT THE LENINGRAD CITY COUNCIL WOULD
PROVE ITSELF USELESS AT ADMINISTERING THE CITY.
"NORMALLY," ZOLOTAREV CLAIMED, THE CITY COUNCIL HELD
A SPECIAL MEETING EVERY AUGUST 15 TO DISCUSS
PREPARATIONS FOR THE COMING WINTER. THIS HAD NOT
HAPPENED THIS YEAR AND IT REFLECTED THE CURRENT CITY
LEADERSHIP'S POOR ORGANIZATION;

- COMPLAINED THAT THE ENTIRE LENINGRAD PARTY
ORGANIZATION DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE TELEPHONE. THE
PARTY HAD BEEN LOCKED OUT OF THEIR OFFICES AND THEIR
OTHER PHONE LINES HAD BEEN CUT, ZOLOTAREV ADMITTED
RUEFULLY. WE ARE LIVING, HE SAID, "UNDER THREAT"
(POD UGROZOI).


COMMENT: YOU CAN'T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS
-------------- -


11. APART FROM HIS WARNING ABOUT CITY PREPARATIONS
FOR THE WINTER, ZOLOTAREV'S COMMENTS READ LIKE A PAGE
OUT OF THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD. ONE CANNOT BUT
SAVOR HIS CLAIMS THAT GIDASPOV HAD NO IDEA HOW HE
CAME TO SERVE ON LENINGRAD'S "EXTRAORDINARY
COMMITTEE." NOR ARE ZOLOTAREV'S BOAST THAT THE
PARTY WOULD "RISE AGAIN" ACCORDING TO THE "DIALECTIC"
OR HIS COMPARISON OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY TO ITS
ERSTWHILE ENEMY AND VICTIM, THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH, ANY LESS AMUSING FOR THEIR HISTORICAL
IRONY.


12. BUT THE INTERVIEW HAS A MORE SERIOUS SIDE.
ZOLOTAREV'S COMMENTS REFLECT THE INTELLECTUAL
STERILITY AND STUBBORN REFUSAL TO ABANDON DISCREDITED
IDEAS THAT CONTINUES TO CHARACTERIZE THE HIGHEST
LEVELS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY. IT SEEMS THAT
LENINGRAD'S COMMUNIST PARTY REMAINS UNREPENTANT AND
EVER-READY TO LIE, CHEAT AND SOW CONFUSION -- EVEN AS
IT SLIDES INTO THE GRAVE.

GOSNELL