Word: tashkenters
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Ever since reports circulated late last month that Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev had been hospitalized following a four-day trip to Tashkent, rumors have been rife that he was gravely ill and possibly dying. Soviet officials maintained, however, that Brezhnev, 75, who has a history of cardiovascular ailments, was simply taking his annual April vacation and resting at his country home outside of Moscow. As of last week Brezhnev had made no public appearances for three weeks, but there were signs that he was carrying on at least some of his official duties...
...year-old Soviet leader was last seen in Tashkent as he was about to board a plane that would take him back to Moscow after a four-day visit to Soviet Central Asia. Given the hectic schedule Brezhnev had set for himself, his dazed, almost blank look as he inattentively followed the departure ceremonies did not strike Soviets watching the evening news as unusual. During almost a decade of precarious health, Brezhnev had had such bad days before...
According to some accounts, Brezhnev collapsed moments later while still in the Tashkent airport. Other versions tell of a sudden mild stroke during the four-hour flight back to Moscow. The evidence: no film footage or newspaper photographs show his return to Moscow, a curious lapse from the ironclad rules of Kremlin protocol...
Once again the alarms rang out. Returning from a four-day trip to the Central Asian city of Tashkent, Brezhnev, 75, was reportedly carried from his Ilyushin 62 jet on a stretcher. The news raised questions not only about his possible successor but, more important, about how the Soviet Union's policies might change under a new leadership...
...diction was more than usually slurred. He appeared tired, and his momentum faltered as he paused between sentences. Yet the audience in the Uzbekistan capital of Tashkent was attentive as Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev broached a topic that was of concern not only in Tashkent, 240 miles from the Chinese border, but also in Peking and Washington. In an obvious attempt to exploit the currently uncertain state of U.S.-China relations, Brezhnev announced that the Soviet Union was prepared to reopen talks with China to reduce the tensions that have existed between the Communist rivals for more than two decades...