When the putschists from the puppet State Emergency Committee were already resting in the cozy cells of pre-trial detention centers, and their successful competitors, to the applause of the public, divided up the unexpectedly fallen loot; when the Soviet Union was already falling apart, and the word “patriot” was becoming as abusive as “communist”; when people enthusiastically waved tricolor flags and stood in line for humanitarian aid, that’s when a force began to take shape, ready to take responsibility for the future of Russia. This was not a hungry and demoralized army, and not the KGB, castrated by democratic reforms without anesthesia. The country's salvation had to come from the depths of the Ministry of Internal Affairs...