Feature film about Shchelokov. Shchelokov, Nikolai Anisimovich. Resignation and death
Yuri Andropov and Nikolai Shchelokov were simultaneously invited by Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev to his team to head the law enforcement agencies: the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From the first days, their relationship took on the character of rivalry.
The explosion point in the confrontation between the two security ministers was the murder of an LGB officer by Moscow metro police officers at the end of December 1980. It was then that an official investigation into abuses in the Ministry of Internal Affairs began...
For the first time, Yulian Semyonov told me about the events of the autumn of 1982 - an attempt at a counter-coup. The writer met with Igor Yuryevich Andropov several times.
The son of the KGB chief, who replaced the “five-star secretary general,” refused to confirm or deny the version of the counter-coup. Although later (1990) KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, for example, during a personal meeting with the author of “Seventeen Moments of Spring”, made it clear: not only the plot is correct, but also the specific details...
Like a movie script
September 10, 1982, 9.45 am.USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov received Secretary General The Central Committee of the CPSU Brezhnev carte blanche for a three-day detention of the recent (resigned from post on May 26) Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Andropov to “clarify the circumstances of the anti-party conspiracy.” The secret conversation lasted three and a half hours.
Even the Minister of Defense did not know about the unprecedented operation. Although Shchelokov, having come home to his old friend at such an early hour (luckily he and Leonid Ilyich lived in the same entrance of house No. 26 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt), had no doubt that he would receive the go-ahead.
That is why in two courtyards on Kutuzovsky the night before, five concrete pillars were dug at the exits of the arches. And branches were cut down from trees in neighboring courtyards, allegedly by utility workers: they intended to place snipers at two points: Shchelokov, not without reason, assumed that Andropov, in alliance with Azerbaijani security officers loyal to Aliyev, could play ahead. And so it happened...
Yu. V. Andropov and N. A. Shchelokov
The World History could have gone according to a different scenario if the Soviet cops had won the battle with their sworn partners - the security officers...
Three special groups of a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, created by order of Shchelokov on the eve of the 1980 Olympics, allegedly to fight terrorism, moved from a base near Moscow to the capital. We drove on special vehicles: Volgas (model 2424) and Fives with souped-up engines. Plus “rafiks” camouflaged as ambulances.
10.15
Column No. 3 of four white Zhiguli cars and two dirty yellow minibuses, which housed Lieutenant Colonel Terentyev’s noticeably nervous men, was stopped on Mira Avenue by Group A officers of the KGB of the USSR, dressed in traffic police uniforms.
For a quarter of an hour, one of the main capital's highways was blocked. From Kapelsky, Orlovo-Davydovsky and Bezbozhny lanes, two dozen black “Volzhanka” cars, filled with officers and warrant officers of the GB troops, burst into the avenue leading to Sretenka. Everyone clearly understood what they were risking - the shooting on Mira Avenue would have become a global scandal...
As it turned out, the Shchelokovskys were caught overnight installing concrete pillars in the arches next to the house where Andropov’s family lived. It was impossible to hide night work in such a place from the KGB.
10.30
Shchelokov's special forces were arrested without having time to resist. And sent at cruising speed towards Lubyanka. Where, however, they were heading anyway. Their goal was to intercept Andropov’s personal car if he tried to leave his office in the gray building of the CPSU Central Committee on Old Square in order to hide in the Lubyanka fortress.
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov - Soviet state and political figure, de facto leader of the USSR in 1982-1984.
10.40
Well, the unit sent by Shchelokov directly to Staraya voluntarily surrendered to the Alpha group, aimed at intercepting three Volzhankas... In the first of which sat Lieutenant Colonel B., who betrayed Shchelokov and managed to call a secret phone with an allegedly innocent remark before leaving the base to his wife: “I won’t come to dinner today.”
By the way, three weeks later the colonel’s UAZ was blown up by a mine near Kabul...
10.45
One of Shchelokov’s detachments finally broke through to their destination (Kutuzovsky, 26). And only because this mini-column of three cars did not move along Bolshaya Filevskaya (where they were waiting in ambush), but along Malaya, which ran parallel. Three Volga cars with flashing lights, so rare at that time, breaking all the rules, drove onto the “government” avenue from Barclay Street.
Ten minutes after Lieutenant Colonel T. ordered his subordinates to lay down their arms on the approaches to Sretenka, his colleague R. ordered to open fire on the squad guarding the famous building on Kutuzovsky, in which, in fact, all three characters of those dramatic events coexisted: Andropov , Brezhnev and Shchelokov.
11.50
Fortunately, there were no dead... But by noon, nine people were brought to Sklif. Moreover, five of them (Shchelokovsky) are under escort. Among these five was Lieutenant Colonel R., who honestly tried to carry out the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs to capture Andropov, sanctioned by Brezhnev himself. He will die under the surgeon's scalpel by the evening of September 11th. Formally, R. became the only victim of that fight. One of ten wounded in the shootout near Kutuzovsky, 26.
The last, tenth, officer - a former bodyguard of the daughter of the future Secretary General Irina Andropova - was taken to one of the dachas near Moscow, where he was provided with individual care.
Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov - Soviet statesman. Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Army General. Doctor of Economic Sciences. Hero of Socialist Labor.
14.30
Immediately after the shootout on Kutuzovsky, on Andropov’s instructions, communication with outside world. All international flights from Sheremetyevo have been canceled due to - officially! - wind roses.
The French-made computer system that regulated telephone communications between the USSR and abroad was promptly disabled. The system was purchased on the eve of the 1980 Olympics, and the very fact of its purchase by the Kremlin became super advertising. Therefore, the publicity of the strange “breakdown” could serve as an equally effective counter-advertising.
But the matter was settled: the competent dissemination was leaked to the Western media. In those years, the KGB quite effectively controlled the Western press and therefore skillfully hushed up the “telephone scandal” (for more information about the technology, see “On the topic”).
Heavy Reckoning
So, the attempt by Brezhnev’s entourage to return the reins of power to the decrepit hands of the Secretary General failed. Two months later, Brezhnev died. None of his relatives were with him at that moment. Only the guys from the “nine” are Andropov’s guys.On December 17, 1982 - a month after Brezhnev’s death - Shchelokov was dismissed from the ministers in connection with the “Uzbek affair”, started on Andropov’s initiative. It ended with a verdict against Yuri Churbanov, Shchelokov’s first deputy and Brezhnev’s son-in-law.
On November 6, 1984, Shchelokov was stripped of the rank of army general. November 10, that is, very Jesuitically, on Police Day! - this fact was published in the central newspapers. But it was Nikolai Anisimovich who gave this holiday a special status. The prosecutors assured me that it was a coincidence. However, I am sure that this was a severe blow for the general. And his relatives are still convinced to this day: the date was chosen deliberately, the general was poisoned.
On November 12, on Kutuzovsky, in the ill-fated house No. 26, a team from the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR came to search.
Less than a month later, on December 7, Shchelokov was completely expelled from the CPSU. On December 10, the disgraced ex-minister writes a suicide note to the Secretary General and the PB:
“I ask you, do not allow philistine slander about me to run rampant, this will unwittingly discredit the authority of leaders of all ranks, and this was something everyone experienced at one time before the arrival of the unforgettable Leonid Ilyich. Thank you for all the good things. Please excuse me.
With respect and love - N. Shchelokov.”
He hides the paper in the table, the key to which he always carries with him (however, as it turned out, someone had a duplicate).
Quite recently, Nikolai Shchelokov felt like an equal to the Kremlin celestials (in the photo - a feast with Leonid Brezhnev)...
Two days later, on December 12, without any judicial verdict, the disgraced Brezhnev vizier was deprived of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and all awards, except military ones.
Driven to suicide?
The next day, December 13, 1984, according to the official version, the general shot himself in the head with a collectible double-barreled shotgun. Leaving two letters. Both are dated... December 10, 1984. One, I repeat, is for the Secretary General, the other is for the children.From the case materials:
“When the GVP officers arrived to inspect the scene of the incident, the entire Shchelokov family was assembled, and the dead Nikolai Anisimovich was lying face down in the hall - he had blown off half of his head with a point-blank shot.
He was wearing the ceremonial uniform of an army general with the “Hammer and Sickle” medal (fake), 11 Soviet orders, 10 medals, 16 foreign awards and the badge of a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, under the uniform there was a shirt made of knitted fabric with an unbuttoned collar, there was no tie , and were wearing slippers on their feet.
Under Shchelokov’s body there was a 12-gauge double-barreled hammerless shotgun with horizontal barrels and a factory mark on the barrel strap “Gastin-Rannet” (Paris).”
The chief military prosecutor of the USSR, Alexander Katusev, publicly hinted at his son’s involvement in the death of the ex-minister, writing:
“I know one thing for sure: in authorizing the searches at the Shchelokovs’, I acted independently, without anyone’s prompting. So the coincidence in time is accidental... But I agree that Shchelokov’s death suited many more than the trial of his criminal case... among these many there could be Shchelokov’s direct heirs - a harsh sentence with confiscation of property loomed in the future.”
Shchelokov's son - Igor Nikolaevich Shchelokov
When Katusev was working on the book “Processes. Glasnost and mafia, confrontations” in 1989, he said that this version was very persistently asked not to be developed. Several respected nobles, including Aliyev.
After the failure of the September coup, many turned away from the Minister of Internal Affairs. Against the background of this depression, the Shchelokovs quickly and imprudently became friends with new acquaintances whom the KGB brought to them.
In December 1983, the security officers began to vigorously process Shchelokov’s daughter-in-law, Nonna Shchelokova-Shelashova. She was made to understand that if Nikolai Anisimovich “does not disappear,” then both she and her husband would face not just confiscation of all their property, but prison term(back then, let me remind you, they were shot for such things).
Katusev said that selected employees of the republican KGB of Azerbaijan were involved in the work of squeezing the Shchelokovs. Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the details and can only restore this version from old notebooks and a manuscript that was planned for newspaper publication, but was removed by Glavlit, and later cut out from the manuscript of the book “Mafia in the Times of Lawlessness.”
As far as I understand, Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was involved in this whole story, although he headed the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR (with the rank of major general) long before these events, from the summer of 1967 to the summer of 1969. And he dragged all the people loyal to him with him to Moscow. But, apparently, valuable personnel remained in Baku.
In short, Lubyanka agents learned from Shchelokov Jr. about his father’s letter to the Politburo. And the report emphasized: Igor Nikolaevich hinted that his father’s message to his comrades sounded like a “suicide note.” And this provoked a fast and furious situation: already on the morning of December 11, an operational group was formed. The task was set to “resolve the issue” within 48 hours.
Eyewitnesses, interviewed later by a team of military prosecutors, testified: at the entrance of the disgraced minister Shchelokov, three black GAZ-2424 special purpose vehicles were seen that fateful morning.
Perhaps Brezhnev's vizier shot himself in the head. Did he write the last note from dictation? Not sure. Most likely, the morning visitors only checked that there was nothing superfluous in the message, and took with them everything that was not intended for the prosecutors who officially handled the “Shchelokov case.”
The former minister was made to understand: either he acted as a man of honor (and he was one, without a doubt), or the whole family would face a shameful trial. With execution (after all, the director of the Eliseevsky store and several other people involved in the bribery system well-built by the Brezhnev clan were shot).
I. N. Shchelokov at his father’s house-museum in Almaznaya (Ukraine).
The fact that the corpse was found, on the one hand, in a ceremonial uniform, and on the other, in slippers, suggests that the minister, who was reputed to be one of the most stylish people in the Kremlin party, was hastened by the directors of the staged suicide.
Alexander Katusev told me that Shchelokov Jr. was aware of the secret operation and even in some way pushed his father to the end, telling him about the pressure from the special services. The morning guests apparently guaranteed the minister that they would leave his family and especially his son alone. Igor Nikolaevich Shchelokov called the prosecutor’s office investigators at 2:14 p.m. on December 13, 1984, having discovered the body.
The mystery of the missing manuscript
I worked on the manuscript of the book Les Coulisses du Kremlin with the former KGB curator of Taganka (he was called “Vasrom” there), an employee of the information department of the CPSU Central Committee, Andropov’s confidant, Colonel Vasily Romanovich Sitnikov. The one whom John Barron described in his KGB manuscript as “Deputy Head of the Disinformation Department of the PSU” (and there they called Sitnikov “Uncle Vasya”).In the fall of 1991, Sitnikov revealed to me missing links in the chain of events that I knew about from Yulian Semenovich Semenov. A chain that still mutually binds former officials who have become honored pensioners and state security officers who now oversee their own banks.
At the request of the source, I have intentionally changed minor details. Well, for example, he pointed out that the morning conversation on September 10, 1982 between Brezhnev and Shchelokov took place at the dacha in Zhukovka, although in fact they talked in apartment No. 94 of building No. 26 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. And these two actually talked at 6 in the morning, and not at the “ninth hour.”
They became friends at the front. L. Brezhnev (center) and N. Shchelokov (right).
Being an extremely careful and careful person, Sitnikov asked me not to disclose information intended for publication in my book - jointly with Francois Marot, then an employee of the French magazine VSD - in the domestic press. We agreed: we'll wait.
Less than a month later, the popular magazine “Stolitsa” at that time published a text telling about the secret activities of Vasily Romanovich. On January 31, 1992, the heart of Andropov’s assistant stopped. And his daughter Natalya Vasilievna assured me: that magazine was lying on his table. But - in the unread pile!
I spoke with her on the tenth anniversary of Brezhnev's death. She was not delighted with the idea of publishing these notes. And only now I published them in the book “Galina Brezhneva”, published for the 25th Moscow International Book Fair.
There remains one, but very significant BUT. There were no computers then, manuscripts were paper. And the manuscript, of which “Uncle Vasya” was a consultant and editor, disappeared after his death. No trace. And Natalya Vasilievna knew this. And not only her...
Evgeniy Dodolev
The statute of limitations has passed, and today I can talk about this case without cuts. Moreover, I believe that I am obliged to do this after the authors of the film “Treasury Thieves. KGB vs. Ministry of Internal Affairs" (NTV channel) used as a script a fragment of the story that I published in Moskovskaya Pravda in 1995, and the missing details were simply thought out in a not very elegant way. I wrote about the attempted police coup in the USSR in 1982 several times, but never in full. Now, perhaps, I won’t set anyone up.
L. I. Brezhnev and N. A. Shchelokov
September 10, 1982, 9:45 am.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov received from the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev carte blanche for a three-day detention of the recent (resigned from post on May 26) Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov to “clarify the circumstances of the anti-party conspiracy.” Secret conversation between the minister's favorite and "d" A R A Gym with Leonid Ilyich" lasted... three and a half hours. Other members of the Politburo were not informed about the unprecedented operation. Even Defense Minister Ustinov. Although Shchelokov, having come home to his old friend at such an early hour (fortunately they lived in the same entrance of house No. 26 on Kutuzovsky Prospekt), apparently had no doubt that he would receive an “okay”. That is why five concrete pillars were dug into two courtyards on Kutuzovsky the night before (at the exits from the arches). And branches were cut down from the trees in the neighboring courtyards, allegedly by utility services (they intended to place snipers at two points, but there was not enough time, Shchelokov, not without reason, assumed that Andropov, in alliance with Azerbaijani security officers loyal to Aliyev, could take the lead... And so it happened) .
However, the blocking posts were installed (they were only torn down on October 23, there was no time for that). That is, there was exactly one route left for the attack of the Shchelokovsky guys, which was marked on the maps by the commander of the special brigade at six in the morning, a few minutes before the minister’s visit to the Secretary General’s home. World history could have followed a different scenario if the Soviet cops had won the battle with their sworn partners - the security officers.
For the first time, Yulian Semenovich Semenov told me about the events of the autumn of 1982 - an attempt at a counter-coup in the USSR on the eve of the death of Secretary General Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. The writer repeatedly met with former employee of the USSR Foreign Ministry Igor Yuryevich Andropov. The son of the KGB chief, who replaced the “five-star secretary general” in the Kremlin, I know, refused to confirm or deny the version of the counter-coup. Although later, in 1990, KGB Chairman Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov, for example, during a personal meeting with the author of “17 Moments of Spring”, made it clear: not only the plot is correct, but also the specific details.
Somewhere at 10.15, three special groups of a special unit of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, created by order of Shchelokov on the eve of the 1980 Olympics, allegedly to fight terrorism, moved from a base near Moscow to the capital (an analogue of this special forces company was the Finnish police group “Bear”; equipment ordered by the Finns in Western Europe and Canada, then transferred via St. Petersburg to the people of the almighty Brezhnev minister, bypassing all NATO embargoes). We didn’t go in an armored personnel carrier, of course, but in special vehicles: white Volgas (model 2424) and “fives” with souped-up engines (these VAZ-2105s had 1.8 engines with a bottom shaft and two more tanks). Plus “rafiks” (minibuses RAF-2203 Latvija), camouflaged as ambulances.
N.B. For Volga soviet people should thank the noble circus tightrope walker. Galina Brezhneva's first husband, Evgeny Timofeevich Milaev, brought an Opel Kapitan to his father-in-law Leonid Ilyich as a gift, and his father-in-law ordered the car manufacturers to make a famous car based on this car. But the story with the “special Volzhan women” began exactly twenty years before the described episode with the “neutralization of Andropov.” From 1962 to 1970, 603 copies of the GAZ-23 were produced. Then, in 1962, a 195-horsepower V8 engine from the government “Chaika” plus an automatic transmission (automatic transmission) was installed on standard GAZ-21s. The Tchaikovsky engines differed in the shape of the crankcase and the size of the oil dipstick, so in order to push the implants under the hood of the Volzhanka, they were tilted a couple of degrees. For secrecy, both exhaust system pipes were combined under the bottom into one pipe. These “twenty-thirds” were 107.5 kg heavier than the “twenty-firsts” and accelerated to 165 km/h, reaching a hundred in just 14-17 seconds (twice as fast as the GAZ-21L - 34 seconds). “Catch-up” was developed by order of the KGB of the USSR. With the hood open, it was clear that the front shield completely covered the radiator, that is, the signature “twenty-one” cutout was missing. Naturally, experts figured out “catch-up” even without an open hood, around the cabin: leather seats, additional lampshades and a finder headlight.
The GAZ-23A version was initially developed as a basic modification of a car with a manual transmission, but it could not work with such a powerful engine. Therefore, a car with an automatic transmission and without a letter index went into production. Then they began to produce so-called duplicates - GAZ-2424. Their visual difference was the automatic transmission floor lever, curved at the base. Plus a single brake pedal (sometimes they installed two paired pedals, both brake pedals, or a wide pedal).
September 10, 1982. 10 hours 15 minutes.
Column No. 3 of four white Zhiguli cars with rotary engines and two dirty yellow Rafik minibuses, which housed the noticeably nervous people of Lieutenant Colonel Terentyev, was stopped on Mira Avenue by officers of Group A of the KGB of the USSR, dressed in traffic police uniforms. The security unit was headed by an experienced officer who, a year earlier, from October 27 to December 4, 1981, had brilliantly proven himself as part of a special brigade that suppressed riots in North Ossetia(the senior officer there was the deputy commander of Alpha, R.P. Ivon, who, after Andropov came to power, was appointed head of a department in the ODP Service of the 7th Directorate of the KGB, where he completed his career).
For a quarter of an hour, one of the main capital's highways was blocked. From Kapelsky, Orlovo-Davydovsky and Bezbozhny lanes, two dozen black “Volzhanka” (the same duplicates 2424), filled with officers and warrant officers of the GB troops, burst onto the avenue leading to Sretenka. With the exception of six senior officers dressed in army field uniforms, everyone was in civilian clothes. And everyone clearly understood what they were risking... Shooting on Mira Avenue in Soviet time would become a scandal on a global scale. However, the second of the Shchelokovo groups did stage a shootout, but not a single Western media reported on this. But more on that below.
The Shchelokovskys were caught installing concrete pillars at night in the arches next to the house where the Andropov family lived. It was impossible to hide night work in such a place from the 9th and 7th KGB departments. Moreover, Shchelokov began preparing to neutralize Andropov, without informing the leader of the country, “dear Leonid Ilyich,” in June 1982. The counter-coup was the culmination of a struggle that began not in 1982, but much earlier. Andropov headed the KGB in 1967, a year later after Shchelokov was appointed to the post of Minister of Security public order. And he immediately began collecting dirt on his competitor.
Yu. V. Andropov
September 10, 1982. 10 hours 30 minutes.
Shchelokov's special forces were arrested without having time to resist. And sent at cruising speed towards Lubyanka. Where, however, they were heading anyway. Their goal was to intercept Andropov’s personal car if he tried to leave his office in the gray building of the CPSU Central Committee on Old Square in order to hide in the Lubyanka fortress, guarded by the Iron Felix monument.
September 10, 1982. 10 hours 40 minutes.
Well, the unit sent by Shchelokov directly to Old Square voluntarily surrendered to the Alpha group, aimed at intercepting three Volzhankas... In the first sat Lieutenant Colonel B., who betrayed Shchelokov and managed to call the secret phone 224-16 before leaving the base -... with an innocent remark (allegedly to his wife):
I won't come for dinner today.
By the way, just three rapid weeks later, his brand new UAZ was blown up by a Chinese mine in a stuffy suburb of what was then a troubled Kabul... A betrayer once could have spilled the beans, that is, betrayed him again. A posted officer who received a another title- the colonel said to his wife without any conspiracy:
I probably won't go back.
Yu. V. Andropov with his wife
September 10, 1982. 10 hours 45 minutes.
However, one of the special forces detachments of Brezhnev's minister Shchelokov broke through to their destination - Kutuzovsky, 26. And only because this mini-column of three cars did not move along Bolshaya Filevskaya, where an ambush awaited them, but along the parallel Malaya. Three Volga cars with flashing lights, so rare at that time, breaking all the rules, drove onto the elite, “government” avenue from Barclay Street.
And ten minutes after Lieutenant Colonel T. ordered his subordinates to lay down their arms on the approaches to Sretenka, his colleague R. ordered to open fire on the squad guarding the famous building on Kutuzovsky, in which, in fact, all three characters of those dramatic events coexisted: Andropov, Brezhnev and Shchelokov.
September 10, 1982. 11 hours 50 minutes.
Fortunately, there were no dead... But by noon, nine people were brought to Sklif. Moreover, five of the Shchelokovskys were under escort. Among these five was Lieutenant Colonel R., who honestly tried to carry out the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs to capture Andropov, sanctioned by Brezhnev himself. And he will die under the surgeon’s knife by the evening of September 11th. The family will not receive notification of the accident until 48 hours later. Of course, “in the performance of official duty” and all that.
N. A. Shchelokov with his wife
September 10, 1982. 14 hours 40 minutes.
Formally - and only formally - R. became the only victim of that battle. One of ten wounded in the shootout near Kutuzovsky, 26.
The last, tenth officer - the former bodyguard of the only daughter of the future Secretary General Irina Yuryevna Andropova - was taken not to the hospital, but to one of the dachas near Moscow, where he was provided with individual care. With the rank of major, he died in Afghanistan a month before the death of his highest patron, Yu. V. Andropov.
September 10, 1982. 14 hours 30 minutes.
Immediately after the shootout on Kutuzovsky, on Andropov’s instructions, communication with the outside world was interrupted. All international flights from Sheremetyevo were canceled due to - officially! - wind roses.
The French-made computer system that regulated telephone communications between the Soviet Union and abroad was promptly disabled. The system was purchased on the eve of the 1980 Olympics, and the very fact that the Kremlin purchased a duplicate telephone system became super advertising. Therefore, the publicity of the strange “breakdown” could serve as an equally effective counter-advertising. But the matter was settled: the competent dissemination was drained and filled in Western media. One way or another, in those years the KGB energetically and, most importantly, quite effectively directed the Western press and therefore skillfully hushed up the “telephone scandal.”
Yu. M. Churbanov in Uzbekistan
Since naive Western journalists, especially those accredited in Moscow, react painfully to the truth about veiled control over their activities, I will reproduce my long-standing blitz interview with General Kalugin:
« - What is the mechanism of such provocations?
A small newspaper that no one knows (in France, India or Japan), a newspaper that is subsidized by the KGB, publishes a note produced by the KGB or the international department of the CPSU Central Committee. After this, TASS, our official telegraph agency, distributes this article, which no one would have noticed, throughout the world. Thus, it becomes a material of international importance.
- You once noticed that “Der Spiegel” was used by the Committee to pump up its shares. Has your statement received any development? Did the Germans react in any way?
I invited them to meet me in Germany. Let's, I say, meet in Berlin. But none of them appeared in Berlin, although I was filmed there by German Central Television (Colby and I walked in the park, and they filmed us there all the time). I can say that in Germany there was not a single structure more or less serious that did not have our agents. From the Chancellor's office to the War Department. And if they had bypassed Der Spiegel, I would have been simply offended if I were them. This time. Secondly, the Stasi intelligence officers know this best, because in the 70s they had agents at a fairly large level.
- What is the task of the agents embedded in Der Spiegel?
Firstly, to receive information through them about political problems and trends in the country. Secondly, there is an opportunity to publish your materials in the magazine, because if Pravda publishes it, it’s one thing, but if Der Spiegel publishes it, it’s completely different. The KGB in Moscow courted many foreign journalists. Everyone! “Der Spiegel”, “Time”, “Newsweek”, etc. Another thing, it didn’t work out with everyone. Any journalist working in Moscow is forced to maintain some kind of relationship with the authorities, otherwise the authorities will not give him the opportunity to get an interesting interview or go to a closed area. If he wants exclusive information, he must also give something in return. This is a normal process: “You give me - I give you.” They approached “Der Spiegel” more than once (in this sense). It is not necessary to be an agent, absolutely not, you just need to be in a relationship where you can be used to place information beneficial to the state. Or disinformation, which is what our KGB has been doing all its life.”
Shchelokov's son - Igor Nikolaevich
So, the inept attempt by Brezhnev’s entourage to return the reins of power to the decrepit hands of the Secretary General failed. And although Andropov turned out to be quicker and cooler, he did not want to use the events of September 10 as compromising evidence against Shchelokov and others after he came to power. This was already enough goodness. Exactly two months later, Brezhnev died. At that moment, none of his relatives were with him. Only the guys from the “nine”. Andropov guys.
On December 17, 1982 - a month after Brezhnev's death - Shchelokov was dismissed from the post of minister in connection with the “Uzbek affair”, started on Andropov’s initiative. The case ended with a verdict against Yuri Mikhailovich Churbanov, Shchelokov’s first deputy and Brezhnev’s son-in-law.
On November 6, 1984, Shchelokov was stripped of the rank of army general. November 10, that is, very Jesuitically, on Police Day! - this fact was published in all central newspapers. But it was Nikolai Anisimovich who gave this holiday a special status, with all these concerts and congratulations. He lobbied for this day of the calendar for all sixteen years that he was considered the main policeman of the state. The prosecutors assured me that it was a coincidence, no one deliberately guessed. However, I am sure that this was a severe blow for the general. And his relatives are still convinced to this day: the date was chosen deliberately, the general was poisoned.
On November 12, a team from the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR came to the ill-fated house No. 26 on Kutuzovsky to conduct a search.
On December 10, the disgraced ex-minister writes a suicide note to Secretary General Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko and members of the PB: “I ask you, do not allow philistine slander about me to run rampant, this will involuntarily discredit the authority of leaders of all ranks, and this was experienced by everyone before the arrival of the unforgettable Leonid Ilyich . Thank you for all the good things. Please excuse me. With respect and love - N. Shchelokov.” He hides the paper in the desk, the key to which he always carries with him. However, as it turned out, someone had a duplicate.
Two days later, on December 12, without any judicial verdict, the disgraced Brezhnev vizier was deprived of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor, which he had received only four years earlier, in 1980. And all government awards, except those that he earned during the Great Patriotic War (and, of course, foreign ones).
The next day, December 13, 1984, according to the official version, while in his apartment, the general shot himself in the head with a collectible 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun. Leaving two letters. Both dated... December 10, 1984. One, I repeat, for the Secretary General, the other for the children. From the case materials: “When the GVP officers arrived to inspect the scene, the entire Shchelokov family was assembled, and the dead Nikolai Anisimovich was lying face down in the hall - he had blown off half of his head with a point-blank shot. He was wearing the ceremonial uniform of an army general with the “Hammer and Sickle” medal (fake), 11 Soviet orders, 10 medals, 16 foreign awards and the badge of a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, under the uniform - a shirt made of knitted fabric with an open collar, no tie , and were wearing slippers on their feet. Under Shchelokov’s body there was a 12-gauge double-barreled hammerless shotgun with horizontal barrels and a factory mark on the barrel strap “Gastin-Rannet” (Paris). In the dining room, on the coffee table, two folders with documents, two certificates of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Hammer and Sickle medal No. 19395 were found in a red box, on dining table- a purse containing 420 rubles and a note to his son-in-law asking him to pay for gas and electricity at the dacha and to pay the servants.”
The chief military prosecutor of the USSR, Alexander Katusev, hinted at his son’s involvement in the death of the ex-minister publicly, writing: “I know one thing for sure: in authorizing the searches of the Shchelokovs, I acted independently, without anyone’s prompting. So the coincidence in time here is accidental, not connected with other events. But I agree that many were more satisfied with Shchelokov’s death than with the trial of his criminal case. Church leaders have a capacious term - “consign to oblivion.” I also admit that among these many there could be Shchelokov’s direct heirs - a harsh sentence with confiscation of property loomed in the future.”
When in 1989 Katusev was working on our book “Processes. Glasnost and mafia, confrontations,” he said that several respected nobles, including Aliyev, very persistently asked not to develop this version.
After the failure of the September coup, many nomenklatura “friends” turned away from the Minister of Internal Affairs, realizing that “Akella missed the mark.” Against the background of this depression, the Shchelokovs quickly and imprudently made friends with new acquaintances whom the KGB brought to them through Khachaturian (he headed the University of Culture created for him at the Academy of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs). In December 1983, the security officers began to vigorously process Shchelokov’s daughter-in-law, Nonna Vasilievna Shchelokova-Shelashova. She was made to understand that if Nikolai Anisimovich “does not disappear,” then she herself, and even more so her husband Igor Nikolaevich, would face not just total confiscation of all their property, but also a significant prison sentence (and then, let me remind you, they were shot for such things at once ).
Katusev said that selected employees of the republican KGB of Azerbaijan were involved in the work of squeezing the Shchelokovs (the unit was headed by a relatively young female major). Unfortunately, I don’t remember all the details and can only restore this version from old notebooks and a manuscript that was planned for publication, but was removed by Glavlit. As far as I understand, Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was involved in this whole story, although he headed the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR (with the rank of major general) long before these events, from the summer of 1967 to the summer of 1969. And he dragged all the people loyal to him with him to Moscow. But, apparently, valuable personnel remained in Baku.
In short, Lubyanka agents learned from Igor Shchelokov about his father’s letter to the Politburo. And the report emphasized: the son believes that it sounds like a “suicide note.” A decision was immediately made to force the situation. On the morning of December 11, a task force was formed and tasked with “resolving the issue” within 48 hours. Eyewitnesses recalled that at the entrance where the disgraced minister lived, three black GAZ-2424 “catch-up” vehicles were parked that morning. Apparently, Shchelokov shot himself in the head. Speculations that it is more difficult to shoot from a hunting rifle than from a revolver are not so significant. During a search of the apartment, no cartridges for the revolver were found. Did he write a note to the children from dictation? Hardly. I think that the morning guests simply checked that there was nothing unnecessary in the letters, and, of course, they confiscated all the documents that were not intended for the prosecutor’s investigators. The situation was explained to Nikolai Anisimovich. Either he acts as a man of honor (and he, no doubt, was such, which did not stop him from practicing unbridled embezzlement and insidious reprisals against enemies: opportunities, as we know, give rise to intentions), or he himself will face a shameful trial with complete disgrace in the press and , which, apparently, was a significant argument, his relatives will be in the dock. The fact that the body was found, on the one hand, in a ceremonial uniform, and on the other, in slippers, makes one think that Nikolai Anisimovich, who was one of the most stylish men of the establishment, was hastened by suicide assistants.
Katusev then assured me that the son of Brezhnev’s favorite was aware of the operation. And, moreover, the night before he carried out a kind of artillery preparation: he complained to his father about the pressure from the special services and about the advice of “well-wishers” to turn himself in, in order, supposedly, to receive only a suspended sentence. “I was aware” - in the sense, I guessed, of course, and did not load the gun. The minister was guaranteed that the children and grandchildren not only would not be repressed, but that they would never be in need. And that Igor Nikolaevich will finally be left alone. The latter called the prosecutor's office investigators at a quarter past three on December 13, 1984. Said he found the body and notes.
***
For the first time, let me remind you, Semenov told me about the events of the autumn of 1982... Yulian Semenovich himself did not have time to write about it.
I worked on the manuscript of the book “Les Coulisses du Kremlin” with Andropov’s former confidant Vasily Romanovich Sitnikov. He revealed to me the missing links in the chain of events. A chain that still mutually binds former officials who have become honored pensioners and state security officers who now oversee their own banks.
Being an extremely careful and careful person, Sitnikov asked me not to disclose information intended for publication in my joint book with Francois Marot, then an employee of the French magazine VSD, in the domestic press. We agreed: we'll wait. Less than a month later, a note appeared in the then popular “Stolitsa” newspaper, which not very loyally told about the secret activities of Vasily Romanovich. On January 31, 1992, the heart of Andropov’s assistant stopped. And his daughter Natalya Vasilievna assured me: that magazine was lying on his table. But - in the unread pile! I spoke with her on the tenth anniversary of Brezhnev's death. She was not delighted with the idea of publishing these notes.
There remains one very significant “but”. There were no computers then, the manuscripts were paper and, alas, there were not enough carbon copies for everyone. And the manuscript, of which V.R. Sitnikov was a consultant and editor, disappeared after his death.
No trace.
And Natalya Vasilievna knew this.
And not only her.
| To my world |
Why didn’t marriages with top officials of the state, nor wealth and other benefits bring them happiness?
The husbands of these women stood at the pinnacle of power. It seemed that fate intended its chosen ones only to shine and enjoy, not knowing the hardships of life. But only long time Later it turned out that behind the external well-being there was real suffering, from which only death could often get rid of.
The most mysterious: Nadezhda Alliluyeva
Husband: head of the Soviet state Joseph Stalin
Died: at 31
November 7, 1932 after the parade in the apartment Kliment Voroshilov Party leaders and their wives gathered, led by Joseph Stalin and his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. The company cheerfully celebrated the anniversary of the October Revolution. But soon a disagreement occurred between Stalin and Alliluyeva. According to one version, Joseph Vissarionovich told his wife: “Hey, drink!” To which she was indignant: “I’m not saying ‘hey!’ to you.” She left the table and never returned to the holiday.
According to another version, Nadezhda sarcastically directed at Stalin, who was talking with one of the ladies, for which he loudly called his wife a fool. And Alliluyeva, offended, left the banquet. On the night of November 8-9, Nadezhda shot herself with a Walter pistol, aiming at her chest.
According to the testimony of Stalin's daughter and adopted son, the death of his wife was a terrible blow for him. At first, his relatives were even afraid to leave him alone, he was so worried about the death of his wife. And later he very often came to her grave and sat there for a long time.
Today there are many versions of why Nadezhda Sergeevna died. Some historians suggest that the young woman was wildly jealous of her husband, and also failed to cope with the political differences that arose between the spouses. Other scientists believe that Alliluyeva was actually shot by one of Stalin's aides. There are also suggestions that Nadezhda committed suicide because of the terrible headaches she suffered from for a long time and for which she even tried to be treated in Germany.
The most cynical: Evgenia Khayutina (Yezhova)
Husband: People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolay Ezhov
Died: at 34 years old.
She was called a court favorite behind her back. In the 30s Evgenia Khayutina was one of the most prominent Kremlin wives. Beautiful, energetic, positive, sexy, and a great singer - men liked her.
Her maiden name Feigenberg. She was born in Gomel, into a large Jewish family. From childhood I knew what I wanted, and at the age of 17 I married a mechanic Lazar Khayutin. Thanks to her first husband, she moved from Gomel to Odessa, where she got a job as a typist in a local newspaper.
To move to Moscow, Evgenia began an affair with the director of a Moscow publishing house. So the 20-year-old beauty became a wife Alexey Gladun, with whom she went on a diplomatic mission to London in 1927. Interestingly, Gladun was soon sent back to his homeland, and Khayutina was transported to Berlin, where she worked as a typist at the Soviet trade mission. In principle, Evgenia no longer needed a second husband. Therefore, meeting Deputy People’s Commissar of Agriculture Nikolai Yezhov in the summer of 1930 in a Sochi sanatorium was very opportune.
Soon she married this small, ugly man. And Yezhov gradually climbed the career ladder and soon found himself right hand Joseph Stalin, actually leading the “cleansing of the party.” It was Yezhov who became the organizer of mass repressions in 1937-38. According to some reports, about 1.5 million people were shot or sent to camps on his orders.
Evgenia got a job as deputy editor of the magazine “USSR in Construction”, effectively heading it. At home, she organized literary salons, where famous writers, actors, singers, and party officials gathered. They say that among Khayutina’s lovers there were writers Mikhail Sholokhov And Isaac Babel, academician Otto Schmidt, as well as colleagues from the magazine. Her love affairs and literary parties were legendary. But gradually her acquaintances, friends and colleagues began to disappear in the dungeons of the NKVD.
They say that Stalin repeatedly told Yezhov to divorce Khayutina, but he delayed the difficult conversation. In addition, the wife’s condition began to deteriorate noticeably. She felt that the ring around her was narrowing and that retribution was inevitable. She wrote letters to Stalin, assuring him of her devotion, but received no response. As a result, the woman ended up in the hospital with a severe form of psychoneurosis.
Khayutina tried to find support from her husband, but he sent her a package of Luminal sleeping pills and a small souvenir. It is believed that it was this trinket that served as the signal for the patient to take decisive action. Evgenia swallowed pills. They tried to revive her for two days, but on November 21, 1938, she died. A year later, Nikolai Yezhov was arrested and executed on February 4, 1940. The former People's Commissar of the NKVD was also charged with the murder of his wife, but Yezhov did not confess to it.
The most beautiful: Nino Gegechkori (Beria)
Husband: People's Commissar of the NKVD and General Commissioner of State Security Lavrenty Beria.
Died: at 86 years old.
Photo: Youtube frame She was called the most beautiful among the wives of the party leadership. Unlike other women, Nino Gegechkori managed to avoid a terrible death, living to a respectable age. It is interesting that until her death she justified her husband and talked about him only Nice words. They met in 1921. He was 22, she was 16.
The young people got married almost immediately, without even informing their relatives. Later, when everyone found out about the secret wedding, they began to whisper behind the young couple’s backs that Lavrentiy Beria had allegedly kidnapped the girl. But Gegechkori herself, giving an interview after perestroika, claimed that everything happened by mutual consent.
They lived together for more than 30 years. Now there are many rumors, articles are being written about how many women Lavrenty Pavlovich raped and killed. But his wife called him a calm, quiet person, a good family man and a wonderful father. Nino did not believe the evidence presented of her husband’s terrible deeds, believing that they were all fabricated to remove him from power and denigrate him.
After Beria's arrest in 1953, Nino and their son Sergo spent 16 months in solitary confinement, where they were interrogated daily. After this, Nino and his son were put on a freight train and dropped off in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg). They had no housing, no money, no work. Later, Sergo, deprived of scientific degrees and titles, the former chief designer of one of the Moscow design bureaus and a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, found it difficult to find a job as a technician. A few years later they were allowed to choose any city to live in, except Moscow. Nino dreamed of returning to her hometown of Martvili in Georgia, but she was asked not to appear there. And Beria’s family left for Kyiv. They say that the son took his mother’s surname and became Gegechkori.
The greediest: Svetlana Shchelokova
Husband: Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR Nikolay Shchelokov
Died: at 54 years old.
Svetlana and Nikolai Shchelokov. 26.11.1910 - 13.12.1984
Stripped of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor
 |
 |
||||
 |
Shchelokov Nikolai Anisimovich - Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Army General.
Born on November 13 (26), 1910 at the Almaznaya station, now the city of Almaznaya, Lugansk region of Ukraine, in the family of a metallurgist.
Began labor activity From the age of sixteen, as a horse driver at the Ilyich mine in the city of Kadievka (now the city of Stakhanov), Nikolai Shchelokov, nevertheless, studied well and read a lot. WITH early years became interested in painting, showing extraordinary talent. At the age of 14, he created a portrait of Taras Shevchenko, which is still kept in the Stakhanov Museum. Member of the CPSU(b)/CPSU since 1931. In 1929 he entered and in 1933 graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute.
In 1933-1934 and 1935-1938 he worked at metallurgical plants in Almaznaya and Dnepropetrovsk: engineer, deputy manager and shop manager. In 1934-1935 he served in the Red Army, in the team of one-year students of the 135th artillery regiment of the Reserve of the High Command.
In 1938-39 - 1st Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) in the city of Dnepropetrovsk. During this period, he met the future General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev. In 1939-1941, Shchelokov was the chairman of the executive committee of the Dnepropetrovsk City Council. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War on N.A. Shchelokov was given personal responsibility for the construction by August 1, 1941 defensive lines around the city of Dnepropetrovsk, and a little later - the evacuation of the population and material assets.
Secondary service in the Red Army since July 1941. He was awarded the military rank of "senior political instructor". ON THE. Shchelokov was included in the operational group of the Military Council of the Southern Front in Stalingrad, and subsequently headed this group. Then - Commissioner of the Military Council of the Southern Front for Stalingrad and Rostov regions(1941-1942), deputy chief of the rear of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian and North Caucasian fronts for political affairs (1942-1943), deputy commander for political affairs - head of the political department of the 218th Red Banner Romodan-Kyiv rifle division and the 28th Rifle Corps (1943-1945); participated in the battle for the Caucasus, in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
After the war, from September 1945, he was the executive secretary of the party commission at the political administration of the Carpathian Military District (the head of the political administration of the district was L.I. Brezhnev). In July 1946, Colonel N.A. Shchelokov was transferred to the reserve.
Since August 1946 - Deputy Minister of Local Industry of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1947-1951 - in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine. In 1951-1962 and 1964-1965 - First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Moldavian SSR. In 1957-1958 and 1962-1964 - Chairman of the National Economy Council of the Moldavian SSR. In 1965-1966 - second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova.
From September 17, 1966 to November 25, 1968 - Minister of Public Order Protection (MOOP) of the USSR. As a result of the reforms N.S. Khrushchev's Ministry of Internal Affairs was abolished. It was believed that in the Soviet Union “a classless society is being built, where there will be no crime,” and the rights of the police were significantly limited. July 23, 1968 L.I. Brezhnev, who became the first leader of the country after Khrushchev, transformed the MOOP into the Union-Republican Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and appointed Shchelokov as Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR in November 1968.
Shchelokov, after being appointed to this high and responsible post, had to completely restore the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Under him, the Moscow Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and seventeen higher education institutions were opened. educational institutions Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. He immediately managed to resolve the issue of additional conscription of fifteen thousand people into the internal troops in November-December 1966 due to a large shortage. He made a lot of efforts to return the internal troops to a single military structure, abolished in 1951.
The first among the country's leaders was N.A. Shchelokov realized how important it is to create a positive image of a law enforcement officer - a Soviet policeman. Largely thanks to him, such literary characters as “precinct Aniskin” Vilya Lipatova, captain Gleb Zheglov and senior lieutenant Vladimir Sharapov of the Vayner brothers; The multi-part film “Born of the Revolution” was released. The Ministry itself created the Central Museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, the Central Studio of Artists named after V.V. Vereshchagin, song and dance ensemble internal troops and other creative groups. All this undoubtedly produced positive results.
Since 1966 N.A. Shchelokov is a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee. Member of the CPSU Central Committee since April 1968. Elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 4th-9th convocations.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Army General Shchelokov, did a lot of work to strengthen law and order, improve the activities of internal affairs bodies and internal troops, strengthen ties between the police and labor collectives and public organizations, strengthening the legal education of citizens. In 1978 he was awarded the academic degree “Doctor of Economic Sciences”.
By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 25, 1980, for fruitful activities as Minister of Internal Affairs and in connection with the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Army General Shchelokov Nikolai Anisimovich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.
On November 10, 1982, patron N.A. dies. Shchelokova Brezhnev L.I. The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, held on November 12, 1982, elects General Secretary of the CPSU. And in December 1982, Army General N.A. Shchelokov removed from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. He is replaced by V.V. Fedorchuk, former chairman of the USSR State Security Committee.
Having lost his ministerial post, N.A. Shchelokov, as an army general, in December 1982 was appointed military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
But, a comprehensive audit of the activities of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs was carried out at the direction of the new Minister of Internal Affairs V.V. Fedorchuk. uncovered numerous abuses former minister. In particular, during this period, material assets worth over 80 thousand rubles were transferred free of charge to members of Shchelokov’s family, including the cost of apartment renovations - about 30 thousand rubles. Among the property received were expensive furniture, radio equipment, video tapes, electrical and plumbing equipment, Construction Materials. Only after Shchelokov was released from office did he and his family members contribute 65 thousand rubles to the ministry’s treasury for these valuables.
Under the guise of special facilities, over 60 thousand rubles were illegally spent on the maintenance of nine apartments, in which mostly Shchelokov’s relatives and acquaintances lived (the daughter of Shchelokov’s personal tailor, this family later went to Israel; the nephew of the minister’s wife; ex-husband daughters of Shchelokov and others). In 1972, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov, allegedly to serve the operational staff, a store was opened, which was used only by family members and relatives of the minister. By agreement with foreign trade organizations, imported goods of high demand were received here: tape recorders, televisions, radio equipment, fur products, shoes, clothing and more. The named persons annually bought scarce goods worth 50-70 thousand rubles here. According to some reports, these goods were then resold by Shchelokov’s relatives at a higher price.
In 1975-77, an agreement was reached on the free transfer by Daimler-Benz of three Mercedes-Benz cars to the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs for the purpose, as stated in the documents, “to ensure traffic safety in connection with the Olympic Games 1980 in Moscow." However, then one of them was registered with the traffic police of the Kievsky district of Moscow as belonging personally to N.A. Shchelokov. The money for the specified car in the amount of 15.2 thousand rubles was paid by Shchelokov only in February 1982. Then, in 1977, 1978, 1980, the same cars were registered to Shchelokov’s wife and children.
In the village of Bolshevo, Moscow Region, and the village of Redkino, Kalininskaya, now Tver Region, there were two dachas registered in the name of close relatives of Shchelokov, and, in addition, another dacha was being built in the village of Nikolina Gora. Dachas are, as the document dispassionately testifies, multi-room permanent buildings with garages, bathhouses and other outbuildings.
In May 1979, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov was given at his disposal antique valuables worth 248.8 thousand rubles, which are material evidence in the criminal case of one of the currency dealers, as well as the painting “Wild Flowers” by M. Saryan, purchased for 10 thousand rubles with funds from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Armenian SSR. According to the documents, all this was registered as property transferred to the Museum of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. After Shchelokov was removed from office, many of these items, as having high artistic value, were transferred to the Kremlin Museum, the Ostankino Palace Museum and other museums.
Extent of use of N.A. Shchelokov's official position for personal purposes amazes the imagination. The documents of the criminal case eloquently testify that only in 1980-82, at the direction of N.A. Shchelokov, fresh flowers worth 36.3 thousand rubles were delivered to the apartments of close and very close people. The flowers were written off as supposedly laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin. The glaring fact was that his father-in-law, at the age of 64, N.A. Shchelokov enlisted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs! He awarded him the special rank of major, then retired him with the sum of 120 rubles, and when his father-in-law died, he was buried at the expense of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was subsequently fictitiously written off.
In 1980-1982, in the film department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, on the instructions of Army General N.A. Shchelokov. a two-part series was created documentary“Pages of Life” about the stages of his life’s journey. The cost of creating this film amounted to over 50 thousand rubles. The film has never been shown anywhere and is in storage in the Krasnogorsk archive of film and photo documents.
In total, according to the documentary materials of the preliminary investigation, N.A. The Shchelokovs caused damage to the state in the amount of over half a million rubles. To compensate for the damage, property worth 296 thousand rubles was returned to him and his family members and confiscated by the investigative authorities, and 126 thousand rubles were paid in cash.
On February 19, 1983, N.A.’s wife committed suicide. Shchelokova Svetlana Vladimirovna, whom he met at the front. In June of the same year, Shchelokov was removed from the CPSU Central Committee for mistakes in his work. Employees of the Main Military Prosecutor's Office continue the investigation and are uncovering more and more abuses by Shchelokov. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 6, 1984, Shchelokov N.A. deprived of the highest military rank"army General".
On December 7, 1984, the Party Control Committee under the CPSU Central Committee makes a decision: “For gross violation of party and state discipline, the principles of selection and placement of leading personnel, abuse of official position for personal gain when he was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, member of the CPSU Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov (party card No. 00139000) to be excluded from the party."
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 12, 1984, Shchelokov N.A. deprived of all state awards, except those received during the Great Patriotic War, and the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
On December 13, 1984, in Moscow, in the government house on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, former Minister of Internal Affairs N.A. Shchelokov, wearing the ceremonial uniform of an army general with all the awards, committed suicide by shooting himself with a collectible hunting rifle “Gastin-Rannet”.
He was buried in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery next to his wife (site No. 20).
After the death of the former all-powerful Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, materials in the amount of twenty-one volumes on N.A. were allocated into separate criminal proceedings. Shchelokova. But the investigation had no choice but to issue a resolution refusing to initiate a criminal case in connection with the death of the accused...
Military ranks: senior political instructor, battalion commissar; lieutenant colonel (1943); colonel (1944); Lieutenant General (1966); Colonel General (1967); General of the Army (09/19/1976).
He was awarded 4 Orders of Lenin (06/19/1945, 04/30/1966, 11/25/1970, 11/25/1980), the Order of the October Revolution (01/05/1978), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (including 04/14/1945), the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2- 1st degree (06/29/1945), Patriotic War 1st degree (10/16/1943), Red Banner of Labor (01/23/1948), Red Star (05/22/1943), medals, including “For Courage” (01/31/1943 ), as well as departmental badges “Excellent Policeman”, “Honored Worker of the Ministry of Internal Affairs”, “Excellent Firefighter”. Deprived of some awards. Honorary citizen of the city of Dnepropetrovsk (1980).
In the city of Almaznoye, Lugansk region of Ukraine, on October 23, 2007, the House-Museum of the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR N.A. was opened. Shchelokova. Restoration work in house No. 8 on Barnaulskaya Street, where Nikolai Shchelokov lived with his parents until he was 19, lasted for a month. Exhibits for the exhibition were provided by the regional museum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and local historians. The most valuable exhibit of the museum is the general’s jacket with order bars, which was given to the museum by the son of N. Shchelokov. In addition to the house-museum, in memory of N.A. In Shchelokov, a station street is named after him ( former name- “Barnaulskaya”). in 2011, a square named after N.A. Shchelokov was opened in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, in which a memorial sign was installed.
Essays:
Development of industry in the Moldavian SSR. Chisinau, 1963;
Economy of the Moldavian SSR and prospects for its development. M., 1964.
This is the most logically explainable of all three assumptions about the causes of S.V.’s death. Shchelokova. Her husband Nikolai Anisimovich served as Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR (including 2 years when he headed the Union Ministry of Public Order) for 16 years - until N.A. No one has ever set such a record for Shchelokov. All these years, the Shchelokov family led the life of millionaires - Svetlana Shchelokova spent enormous amounts of money on diamonds, meeting on this basis with another lover of jewelry, Galina Brezhneva. The Shchelokovs' house and dacha were filled with antiques, including original works by famous painters.
For N.A.’s birthday It was customary to give Shchelokov very expensive gifts. His family owned three Mercedes, which they managed to obtain with the help of Nikolai Anisimovich’s connections and influence—it was a gift to the Soviet state from a German concern for the 1980 Olympics.
Under Brezhnev, the Shchelokovs could do anything; no one controlled them, could not limit their irrepressible demands, much less stop them. But as soon as Leonid Ilyich died, a month later N.A. Shchelokov was removed from the post of minister and he overnight became a defendant in a criminal case about corruption in the highest echelons of power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, initiated personally by Andropov and opened by the head of the KGB under Brezhnev. Constant interrogations began, and in the Shchelokov family the situation became tense to the limit. Svetlana Vladimirovna, according to their servants, constantly screamed and sobbed. It all ended with Nikolai Anisimovich’s wife taking his award pistol, going into the bedroom and shooting herself.
