It is now 30 years since the failed Soviet August Coup. The failure of the coup spelt the end of the USSR. ACN played a vital role in providing the radio transmitter used by Boris Yeltsin to call on Russians to protest the coup. These protests ensured that the coup failed.

By ACN Staff

On 19th August this year, we mark 30 years since the failed coup attempted by the Soviet military and Communist elites to halt the reforms of the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. This event was pivotal in the eventual collapse of the USSR later in 1991. The coup succeeded in its goal of getting rid of Gorbachev but failed in its overall goal of maintaining the status quo in the Communist USSR. What is not very well known is that a radio transmitter smuggled into the USSR with the help of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) played a vital role in making sure the coup failed.

As Soviet tanks and armoured personnel carriers rolled through Moscow and Gorbachev was forced to stand down, the president of the Russian Soviet Republic, Boris Yeltsin, stepped forward as the main leader of the opposition to the military coup. The main strength that Yeltsin and his supporters had was the popularity of Yeltsin with many Russians. It was therefore vital that as many Russians as possible, particularly those living in Moscow, could hear Yeltsin speak.

After Yeltsin had addressed crowds of protesters while standing on top of a tank outside of parliament, he returned to the parliament building. Yeltsin asked his colleagues and allies in the parliament building if anyone had access to a radio transmitter to allow him to speak to the people. The military commanders behind the coup were smart and had made sure that all state broadcasting facilities were seized by the Soviet Armed Forces as part the initial stages of the coup. It looked as though no radio transmitter was available for Yeltsin to speak to the people.

ACN had been working in the shadows in the USSR for years and had built up a network of Christians who were determined to preach the Gospel in the face of the opposition of the Communist authorities. In this context, a joint project by the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in Russia began to set up a Christian radio station called Radio Blagovest or “Good News Radio”. After generations of Communist rule, the Russian population was out of practice of going to church, so the radio was the perfect means to reach into people’s homes to spread the Gospel Message. The radio station was receiving support from ACN and a Dutch foundation. Equipment to carry out radio broadcasts had been smuggled into Moscow to set up the radio station. The station had not received a broadcasting license from the Soviet Ministry of Communication, but everything else was in place to carry out broadcasts.

As Yeltsin wondered where he would be able to find a radio transmitter not under military control, a member of the Russian parliament, Viktor Aksiutsjik, stepped forward and said he knew where they could find equipment for a radio broadcast. Aksiutsjik was on the board of Good News Radio and remembered that the station had equipment needed for radio broadcasts that was secretly sitting in a warehouse. A lorry was dispatched to the warehouse to fetch the equipment and a radio transmitter was soon set up in the parliament. Yeltsin was able to successfully call the people of Moscow onto the streets over the radio. Moscow was thronged with protesters. By the evening of the 21st August the attempted coup had failed, and Soviet troops stood down. By December 1991, the USSR was dissolved. Yeltsin expressed his thanks to Radio Blagovest (Good News Radio) and in September 1991 they were given a broadcasting license. The station continues to broadcast Christian radio to this day.

Since the 1960s ACN has been supporting Christian radio and television broadcasts around the world. In many parts of the world these broadcasts are the only way to reach the faithful and are also a good way of reaching those who are not practicing their faith or have not heard the Gospel Message. In other contexts of political repression and media suppression, Church radio plays a vital role in allowing people air grievances and injustices. For these reasons, ACN is committed to continuing to support Church broadcasts over radio and television.