Vladimir Kryuchkov

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Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov (Russian: Владимир Александрович Крючков) (29 February 1924 – 23 November 2007) was a former Soviet politician and Communist Party member, having been in the organization from 1944 until he was dismissed in 1991 for his role in the failed coup against Gorbachev. He was born in Tsaritsyn, which is now Volgograd^[1]

[edit] Career

Kryuchkov joined the Soviet diplomatic service, stationed in Hungary until 1959. He then worked for the Communist Party Central Committee for eight years, before joining the KGB in 1967 together with his patron Yuri Andropov. He was appointed head of the First Chief Directorate (FCD) in 1974 (the KGB Foreign Operations) and Deputy Chairman in 1978. In 1988 he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army and became KGB Chairman. In 1989-1990, he was a member of the Politburo.

During the August Coup of 1991, Kryuchkov was among the gang of eight that led the State Emergency Committee (Государственный Комитет по Чрезвычайному Положению, ГКЧП) that temporarily ousted Gorbachev. Following the failed coup attempt, Kryuchkov was imprisoned for his participation. However, in 1994 the State Duma freed him in an amnesty. Kryuchkov was replaced as chairman of the KGB by Vadim Bakatin.

He died in 2007 from an unspecified illness in Moscow.^[2]