The book “Tragic Fates” opens a new series from the publishing house “OLMA-PRESS” - “How it really happened.” The author, journalist Nikolai Andreev, explores the fates of extraordinary people - our compatriots, whom time and circumstances have tried to break. Here are some of those who have been hit hard by our cruel age: scientist and humanist Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, war hero and spy Oleg Penkovsky, football player Eduard Streltsov, Soviet general and symbol of the struggle for the independence of Chechnya Dzhokhar Dudayev, village wise men Ivan Snimshchikov and Ivan Khudenko... It is not always possible to determine exactly what caused the tragedy - whether fate decreed it, or life just happened that way... We hope that this book will help you, through the fates of individual people, outstanding personalities, to feel the history of our country and better understand your own life.