The facts presented in this book are another warning to posterity, our children and grandchildren. They are a warning to future politicians. The author tried to trace the chain of fatal events that led to the death of the great power - the USSR and the crisis in Russia. It began with the protracted rule of Leonid Brezhnev, the death of Yu. the White House, the first Chechen war and ended with the re-election of the ailing B. N. Yeltsin for a second term with all the ensuing consequences.