Gorbachev made a public statement in the evening, an emotional one in an emotional atmosphere, telling of his detention and the aftermath. I had a lazy day, updating my journal and joining the family for a Little Chef lunch before going to Dad’s grave to renew the flowers and tend the plot.
It was another day where the events in Moscow took precedence over my own priorities, and I kept listening to the television news reports. I was waiting all day for Gorbachev to make a public statement and, when it came this evening, it was an historic one in an emotional atmosphere. He told of his detention and the actions of the committee that overthrew him and, as he did so, there were continuing meetings of the Russian Parliament and more proclamations by Boris Yeltsin as to what was to happen in Russia.
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Gorbachev seems to have been affected by his experience and will have his work cut out to curtail the moves by the republics to take on more autonomy from the centre. He stopped short of condemning the Communist Party and of all the coup leaders and, in this regard, he may be lagging behind the events. I had a lazy day, but I did manage to file this last month's journal and edit my writings from the time away. I joined the family for lunch at The Little Chef and after we went to Dad's grave and renewed the flowers and tended the plot. Not much more activity this afternoon and evening, as I watched the first day of the England vs Sri Lanka Test Match where England lost rather too many wickets in their first innings.