US embassy cable - 91LENINGRAD4146

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