Word: kremlins
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After hesitating for four days, the Kremlin was finally compelled, in the words of the official news agency TASS, "to take the measure of last resort" and declare a state of emergency. Early Saturday morning, Soviet troops stormed the center of Baku in tanks and armored cars, smashing through makeshift barricades of buses and trucks. The troops exchanged fire with extremists, armed with submachine guns and sniper rifles. Eyewitnesses described streets awash with "pools of blood" and corpses strewn on the road to the highway; there were even unconfirmed reports that Soviet tanks had opened fire on the demonstrators...
...week before sending in troops. At the same time, there was an uneasy feeling that the country's army might find itself bogged down in another Afghanistan, within its own borders, fighting a people just as ferociously dedicated to defeating Moscow. Those fears were illustrated last week when the Kremlin called up army reservists; after a public outcry, the term of service was shortened...
Initially Moscow declared a state of emergency in parts of Azerbaijan, banning strike actions, rallies and demonstrations; inexplicably the restrictions did not extend to Baku. Then the Kremlin dispatched 11,000 troops from the army, the navy, the KGB and the Interior Ministry to assist the nearly 6,000 troops already in the region...
...Kremlin conference on Friday, Gorbachev described the combatants as "a handful of militants, irresponsible adventurers and shadow economy dealers" and cast the conflict partly as an effort to undermine his policies. "Perestroika is like a thorn in their flesh," he said. "They are unable to launch a frontal attack on it, so they cling to tension on an ethnic basis...
Such conditions have stirred a wave of public anger. Dozens of environmental groups have staged demonstrations against dirty steel mills, hazardous chemical factories and suspect nuclear reactors. Even the Kremlin has joined the demonstrations. At last year's Nov. 7 parade commemorating the Russian Revolution, official floats carrying such slogans as GIVE US CLEAN AIR moved through Red Square along with the usual rockets and tanks...