When the putschists from the puppet Emergency Committee were already resting in cozy cells of pre-trial detention centers, and their successful competitors, to a standing ovation from the public, shared unexpectedly fallen prey; when the Soviet Union had already crumbled, and the word "patriot" was becoming as expletive as "communist"; when the people enthusiastically waved tricolor flags and stood in line for humanitarian aid, then a force began to form, ready to take responsibility for the future of Russia. It was not a hungry and demoralized army, and not the KGB, castrated without anesthesia by democratic transformations. The salvation of the country was supposed to come from the bowels of the Ministry of the Interior...