Defiance in Moscow: August 1991

Dawn, 19 August 1991: hard-line Communists in Gorbachev's government seize power. Boris Yeltsin calls on the people to resist the coup as tanks and troops move on to Moscow streets.

For some, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms are not enough and the pace of change is too slow. For others, they are a threat. Hard-line Communist party members won't accept a multi-party system. A group of ministers led by Gennady Yanayev takes power while the president is forcibly removed to the Crimea. In the parliament building, Boris Yeltsin leads the resistance to this coup. Many army and KGB officers support him.

ITN: news footage, with a commentary added by a reporter at the scene.

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