Yanayev, Gennady

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Soviet communist politician, vice-president of the USSR 1990–91. He led the August 1991 anti-Gorbachev attempted coup, after which he was arrested and charged with treason. He was released in 1994 under an amnesty.

Yanayev rose in the ranks as a traditional, conservative-minded communist bureaucrat to become a member of the Politburo and Secretariat, and head of the official Soviet trade-union movement from 1990. In December 1990 he was President Gorbachev's surprise choice for vice-president. In August 1991, however, Yanayev became titular head of the eight-member ‘emergency committee’ that launched the reactionary coup against Gorbachev.

Black stands for the African people. White symbolizes peace. Black, red, and green, the ‘black liberation’ colours, denote Africa's rebirth. Red represents the blood common to all people. Green recalls the fertile land. Effective date: 12 December 1963. >>