This book tells about the chain of events that led to one of the greatest geopolitical tragedies of the 20th century - the collapse of the USSR. In it you will not find spectacular episodes - chases, shooting, stunts, charming beauties and courageous super agents. Everything happened, at first glance, in an ordinary way: they gathered, discussed, but did not agree. They gathered, voted, and violated the Constitution. And so on... And the result is a disaster. The country was split along seemingly forgotten borders. Millions of people found themselves abroad, becoming outcasts - stateless persons, foreigners - in their own country. What were the politicians thinking, in whose hands the fate of the country was in those years? Were you worried about the future? Have you thought about responsibility before laws and conscience? Have you calculated the possible economic and political consequences of your actions? Nothing like that! The collapse of the Soviet Union was a by-product of a game of chance, where the stakes were power, property, presidential and government positions and privileges. In any game there are no losers: in this case, the people who followed their rulers and blindly trusted them were left in the fool. But what about the “hand of the West”? The machinations and intrigues of Russia's enemies? Were? Were! Russia has always had enough enemies. They were written about in newspapers then, and discussed at open and closed meetings in the Kremlin. However, the government, which had one of the most powerful armies and intelligence services in the world, became surprisingly helpless and weak when it came to preserving the unity of its own country.