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Nikolai Ryzhkov: The decision on deployment of troops in Baku was passed at Gorbachev's office

26 September 2014 11:31 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow. Farid Akbarov - APA. “I raised an issue at the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to declare an emergency situation in Baku of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to declare an emergency situation in Baku after the first ethnically motivated crime was committed. Chairperson of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan Elmira Gafarova strongly opposed it, saying that Ryzhkov deteriorates the situation. As a result, an emergency situation was declared in Nagorno Karabakh, said former Soviet Prime Minister, member of the Russian federation Council from Belgorod region Nikolai Ryzhkov in his interview to Izvestia newspaper, APA’s Moscow correspondent reports.

Commenting on the events of January 20, 1990, Ryzhkov said the situation continued to deteriorate in Baku at that time.

“The decision on deployment of troops in Baku was passed together with Lekyanov (Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union), Yazov (Defense Minister), Kryuchkov (Chairman of the Committee for State Security), Bakatin (Interior Minister) and me at Gorbachev's office. Yazov asked for the order. Gorbachev gave instructions to Medvedev to prepare the text on deployment of troops and disseminate it by media outlets before midnight. However, Medvedev delayed the text and published it only in the morning. The troops were immediately deployed in Baku after the meeting at Gorbachev's office. I doubt Medvedev sabotaged the order. Or, this was a deliberate step so that they were able to see how the situation would improve. At 23:00, first secretary of Central Committee of Azerbaijan Vezirov called me and asked me to stop sending troops to the city. Yazov called me at night the troops were fired on and some soldiers were killed (He couldn’t call Gorbachev). He asked what should be done I told him to respond to fire with fire. At night, Gorbachev called me three times. I reported to him about the situation, as well as skirmish and the dead. In response, he said: “nu delay, delay” (go on).

In his response to the question ‘Did you lead military operation all night without any written order?’, he said: “I was not involved in politics, I just fulfilled the instructions”.