Attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev
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An assassination attempt was made upon
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
on 22 January 1969, when a deserter from the
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
,
Viktor Ilyin Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin (Russian: Ви́ктор Ива́нович Ильи́н; born 26 December 1947) is a Soviet Army deserter who, at the rank of second lieutenant, attempted to assassinate the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev on 22 Janua ...
, fired shots at a motorcade carrying the Soviet leader through
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. Though Brezhnev was unhurt, the shots killed a driver and lightly injured several celebrated
cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
s of the
Soviet space program The Soviet space program (russian: Космическая программа СССР, Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR) was the national space program of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), active from 1955 until the dissoluti ...
who were present in the motorcade. Brezhnev's attacker was captured and a
news blackout Media blackout is the censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state. The latter case is controversial in ...
on the event was maintained by the
Soviet government The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
for years thereafter.


Would-be assassin

Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin (russian: Виктор Иванович Ильин) was born in
Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1947. After his graduation from a technical college, he was inducted into the
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
in 1968 at the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. Ilyin was said to have been resentful of his forced conscription and distressed by the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
. On 21 January 1969, Ilyin stole two standard-issue Makarov handguns and deserted his army unit. He went back to his family in Leningrad where he stole his brother-in-law's authentic police uniform. Ilyin then left on an unannounced, solitary journey to Moscow.


Cosmonauts' motorcade

Dressed as a policeman, Ilyin moved unimpeded through a large crowd waiting at
the Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
. They were clustered at the Borovitsky Gate, where a special motorcade was expected to pass: it would be bearing the successful cosmonauts of
Soyuz 4 Soyuz 4 (russian: Союз 4, ''Union 4'') was launched on 14 January 1969, carrying cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov on his first flight. The aim of the mission was to dock with Soyuz 5, transfer two crew members from that spacecraft, and retur ...
and
Soyuz 5 Soyuz 5 (russian: Союз 5, ''Union 5'') was a Soyuz mission using the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union on 15 January 1969, which docked with Soyuz 4 in orbit. It was the first docking of two crewed spacecraft of any nat ...
to an important official ceremony. The spaceflight crewmembers—
Vladimir Shatalov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov (russian: Владимир Александрович Шаталов; December 8, 1927 – June 15, 2021) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, a ...
,
Boris Volynov Boris Valentinovich Volynov (russian: Бори́с Валенти́нович Волы́нов; born 18 December 1934) is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. Following the death of Alexei L ...
,
Yevgeny Khrunov Yevgeny Vasilyevich Khrunov (; 10 September 1933 – 20 May 2000) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on the Soyuz 5/ Soyuz 4 mission. Early life Yevgeny Khrunov was born on 10 September 1933 to Vasily Yegorevich and Agrafena Nikolayevna. Nickna ...
, and
Aleksei Yeliseyev Aleksei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev (russian: Алексей Станиславович Елисеев; born 13 July 1934) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 5 , Soyuz 8, and ...
—had returned only a week earlier from their historic manned-ship-to-manned-ship docking mission in space, the first of its kind. Arriving at
Vnukovo Airport Vnukovo, formally Vnukovo Andrei Tupolev International Airport (named after Andrei Tupolev) ( rus, links=no, Внуково, p=ˈvnukəvə) , is a dual-runway international airport located in Vnukovo District, southwest of the centre of Moscow, ...
, they were being driven with Brezhnev and Soviet head of state
Nikolai Podgorny Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny, ''Mykola Viktorovych Pidhornyy'' rus, Никола́й Ви́кторович Подго́рный, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ pɐdˈgornɨj, links=yes ( – 12 January 1983) was a Soviet statesman who ...
to their commemorative celebration inside the Kremlin's
Palace of Congresses The Palace of Congresses () is a venue in Tirana, Albania, where numerous multi-genre concerts, exhibition, festivals, competitions and other events are held, including the annual Festivali i Këngës and Kënga Magjike and the Tirana Book Fair. ...
. The four honorees rode in an open convertible at the front of the line, waving to spectators while a line of closed limousines trailed behind them.


Assassination attempt

At 2:15 p.m. on 22 January 1969, as the motorcade passed through the gate, Ilyin drew pistols in both hands. Ignoring the waving cosmonauts, he opened fire on the second car in the line: he later admitted that he only assumed it carried Brezhnev, but this
ZiL OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow, Russia. The la ...
limousine was filled only with other cosmonauts from earlier missions: Alexei Leonov,
Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova ( rus, Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, links=no, p=vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə, a=Valentina Tereshkova.ogg; born 6 March 1937) is an engine ...
,
Georgy Beregovoy Georgy Timofeyevich Beregovoy (russian: Гео́ргий Тимофе́евич Берегово́й, ua, Гео́ргій Тимофі́йович Берегови́й; 15 April 1921 – 30 June 1995) was a Soviet cosmonaut who commanded the s ...
, and
Andriyan Nikolayev Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev ( Chuvash and russian: Андриян Григорьевич Николаев; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into s ...
. Ilyin's shots struck the limousine fourteen times, killing the driver, Ilya Zharkov, before a guard ran Ilyin down with his motorcycle. The other occupants of the car were unscathed or suffered only superficial wounds. After Ilyin was arrested, the cosmonauts' ceremony took place as planned, slightly delayed.


Aftermath

Ilyin underwent a lengthy interrogation led by
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
chief and future Soviet leader
Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the p ...
. During his interrogation, the recording of which was found in the Russian State Archives after 1991, Ilyin told Andropov that his motivation to assassinate Brezhnev was to have him replaced with his Second Secretary and Party Ideologue
Mikhail Suslov Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (russian: Михаи́л Андре́евич Су́слов; 25 January 1982) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as uno ...
(whom Ilyin called "the most outstanding person in the party at the moment"). Whether this was true or if he was simply trying to provoke infighting within the Politburo remains unknown. He was pronounced insane and sent to Kazan Psychiatric Hospital where he was kept in solitary confinement until 1988. According to Russian sources, Ilyin was released in 1990 and moved to
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. The bullet-holed limousine has been preserved and is occasionally put on public exhibition.


Legacy

News was scant and slow to emerge. An official Soviet press statement was made two days after the shooting, but did not say if the shooter was a man or a woman. However, even without official confirmation, the event was seen as an assassination attempt on Brezhnev. Years later, the cosmonaut Leonov recounted how Brezhnev confided to him after the incident: "Those bullets were not meant for you, Alexei. They were meant for me, and for that I apologize." But until the dissolution of the Soviet Union the KGB released little information about the shooting. The entire incident was "so effectively hushed up" that it was sometimes cited by Western observers as an example of Soviet secrecy.


References

{{Brezhnev Era 1969 crimes in Russia 1969 in the Soviet Union
Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 198 ...
Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 198 ...
Crime in the Soviet Union Assassination attempt 1969 in Moscow Crime in Moscow January 1969 events in Europe Soviet cover-ups Alexei Leonov