The 1968 Red Square demonstration () took place in Moscow on 25 August 1968. It was a protest by eight demonstrators against the invasion of Czechoslovakia on the night of 20–21 August 1968 by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and its

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

allies, crushing the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

, the challenge to centralised planning and censorship by

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leader

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovaks, Slovak statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czech ...

. The protest took place at the

Lobnoye Mesto Lobnoye mesto () is a 13-meter-long stone platform situated in the Red Square in Moscow in front of Saint Basil's Cathedral. Its name is derived from the Russian words for 'forehead' () and 'place' (). In Old Russian meant 'a steep river bank ...

(Place of Proclamation) on

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...

next to the Kremlin, to avoid any accusation of a violation of public order. It was a

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

, sit-down demonstration. However, all but one of the protestors was quickly and roughly arrested by police and plainclothes KGB men.

The protest, 25 August

The protest began at noon as eight protesters (

Larisa Bogoraz Larisa Iosifovna Bogoraz (, full name: Larisa Iosifovna Bogoraz-Brukhman, Bogoraz was her father's last name, Brukhman her mother's, August 8, 1929 – April 6, 2004) was a Soviet dissidents, dissident in the Soviet Union. Biography Born in ...

, Konstantin Babitsky, Vadim Delaunay, Vladimir Dremliuga,

Pavel Litvinov Pavel Mikhailovich Litvinov (; born 6 July 1940) is a Russian-born U.S. physicist, writer, teacher, Human rights movement in the Soviet Union, human rights activist and former Soviet dissidents, Soviet-era dissident. Biography The grandson of Iv ...

Natalya Gorbanevskaya Natalya Yevgenyevna Gorbanevskaya ( rus, Ната́лья Евге́ньевна Горбане́вская, p=nɐˈtalʲjə jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvnə ɡərbɐˈnʲefskəjə, a=Natal'ya Yevgen'yevna Gorbanyevskaya.ru.vorb.oga; 26 May 1936 – 29 No ...

Viktor Fainberg Viktor Isaakovich Fainberg (; 26 November 1931 – 2 January 2023) was a Russian philologist, prominent figure of the dissident movement in the Soviet Union, participant of the 1968 Red Square demonstration, and the director of the Campaign A ...

, and Tatiana Baeva) sat at the Lobnoye Mesto and held a small Czechoslovak flag and placards bearing various slogans: * "We are losing our best friends" ("мы теряем лучших друзей"), * "Long live free and independent Czechoslovakia" ("Ať žije svobodné a nezávislé Československo!", in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

), * "Shame to the occupiers" ("Позор оккупантам!"), * "Hands off the ČSSR" ("Руки прочь от ЧССР!"), * "

For your freedom and ours For our freedom and yours ( or ) is one of the unofficial mottos of Poland. It is commonly associated with the times when Polish soldiers, exiled from the partitioned Poland (1795-1914), partitioned Poland, fought in various independence movemen ...

" ("За вашу и нашу свободу!"), * "Freedom for Dubček" ("Свободу Дубчеку!"). Within a few minutes, seven of the protesters were assaulted, brutally beaten and loaded into cars by

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

operatives. The Czechoslovak flag was broken, and the placards were confiscated. Since

had recently given birth, she was not made to stand trial. The other protesters convinced 21-year-old Tatiana Baeva to declare that she had been at the scene by accident, and she was released soon after. The KGB failed to find out which protester was holding which banner; therefore, all the banners were attributed to each protester, except for Tatiana Baeva, who was released. The banners were branded by the KGB as "

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism or anti-Soviet sentiment are activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union. Three common uses of the term include the following: * Anti-Sovietism in inter ...

Trial, 9-11 October 1968

During the investigation and trial, the defence revealed several inconsistencies in the accusations. One of the eyewitnesses declared that he saw protesters leaving the GUM, a large store in the vicinity, even though this store is closed on Sundays. Additionally, all eyewitnesses happened to be from the same military division, even though they all claimed that they ended up on Red Square accidentally. However, these inconsistencies were not taken into account during the trial. None of the demonstrators pleaded guilty.

Verdict and sentence

Lawyers for the defense (all

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

members appointed and paid for by the State) demonstrated that the protestors had acted without criminal intent, but the protesters on trial all received sentences of up to several years imprisonment or exile and in two cases they were sent to psychiatric prison hospitals. Vadim Delaunay and Vladimir Dremlyuga were sentenced to three years in a penal colony. Victor Fainberg, who had his teeth knocked out during the arrest, did not appear in court but was sent to a psychiatric prison. Larisa Bogoraz was sentenced to four years of exile to a remote Siberian settlement in the

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

Region. Konstantin Babitsky was sentenced to three years of exile. Pavel Litvinov was sentenced to five years' exile. Natalya Gorbanevskaya was released the same day but later sent to a psychiatric prison. In his "Attorney's waltz" singer and rights activist

Yuliy Kim Yuliy Chersanovich Kim (, ; born 23 December 1936, Moscow) is a Russian bard (Soviet Union), bard, composer, poet, and songwriter. His songs, encompassing everything from mild humor to biting political satire, appear in dozens of Soviet movies, ...

claimed that the sentences had been decided before the trial.Yuly Kim, "The attorney's waltz" (Адвокатский вальс) (in Russian)
In another song, "Ilyich", Kim mentions

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

's and

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

's anger at the demonstration, and refers to three of the protestors by name --

and

. The story of the August 1968 demonstration is recounted in the 2005 documentary ''

They Chose Freedom ''They Chose Freedom'' () is a four-part TV documentary on the history of political dissent in the USSR from the 1950s to the 1990s. It was produced in 2005 by Vladimir Kara-Murza. The documentary tells the story of the Soviet dissident moveme ...

''.

Belated public recognition

In 1990 (following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

), seven of the protesters were awarded

honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. During the conflict in South Ossetia, August 2008, the former president of the Czech Republic,

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

, expressed his sympathies for the protesters of 1968. Czech Premier

Mirek Topolánek Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democr ...

recognized the heroism of the protesters with awards. There was no recognition on the part of the Russian government. On 24 August 2008, the similar demonstration with the slogan

was held in the same place. On 25 August 2013, the 45th anniversary of the demonstration, Gorbanevskaya and several of her friends recreated the original protest, again featuring the "For your freedom and ours" banner. Ten participants (among them Delaunay's son Sergey) were arrested almost immediately and taken to a police station. They were soon arraigned and released pending court appearance on charges of failing to secure prior permission for a political rally, a misdemeanor under current Russian law. In 2018, three participants at another repeat demonstration were arrested.Three people were arrested on red square for remembrance of the 1968 Red Square demonstration

Novaya Gazeta ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

, 25 August 2018 On February 5, 2025, Tatiana Baeva, who was one of the participant members of the 1968 Red Square demonstration died at the age of 77.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* *Soviet Archives posted by V. Bukovsky. Chapter 3.1 Dissidents, 1960–1969, https://web.archive.org/web/20180720130713/http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/dis60/dis60-e.html *
Информация о демонстрации в бюллетене "Хроника текущих событий"

Л. А. Кацва. История России. Cоветский период. (1917–1991)
*Сева Новгородцев 23 августа 2003
К 35-летию советского вторжения в Чехословакию
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Square demonstration, 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia Events in Moscow Red Square demonstration Czechoslovakia–Soviet Union relations Political repression in the Soviet Union Protests in the Soviet Union Human rights in the Soviet Union Anti-war protests in Russia Red Square 1968 in Moscow 1968 protests August 1968 in Europe Protests in Russia