After the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the Soviet people missed their homeland very much, and according to polls in the 90s, more than half of the population of the CIS countries believed that "it was wrong to dissolve the Soviet Union."
Of course, the older generation of Soviets was not without complaints against the Soviet government, such as the vicious behavior of the police system in the late Soviet Union, which was deeply hated by the Soviet people.
The People's Police of the USSR, subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was born almost simultaneously with the Soviet government, and reached its peak under Brezhnev and became a major political force in the Soviet Union.
The police are the most basic department of the political and legal system, responsible for maintaining social security, but unfortunately, the Soviet police lack a good selection system and internal training, so the quality of police officers is uneven, often wearing the skin of the law to rip off the people.
Most people are reverent about this group, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs protects the police, and it is difficult for the legal system to hold them accountable after they break the law.
In the entire Soviet Union, there was only one department that dared to confront the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and that was the KGB.
In 1980, the "Zhdanov subway station blood" shook the Soviet Union, a KGB officer named Afanasyev died mysteriously near the subway station, and the KGB investigated and pointed the finger at the subway police.
The case completely opened the poisonous sore of "police crime", and the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs officially "went to war".
Well, what happened to the "Zhdanov metro station" more than 40 years ago? How did the KGB take revenge on the Soviet police force?
First, because of a fake note, the KGB was dispatched
In the early hours of December 27, 1980, ambulance sirens sounded on the outskirts of Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. A drunk man was found lying on the lawn near the KGB apartment, bruised and dying in the cold wind.
In the winter of the Soviet Union, countless people died lying on the streets like this, either directly drunk or robbed, anyway, it was difficult to escape death.
After the drunk was taken to the hospital, the doctor took out a small leave slip from his pocket, which was actually covered with a KGB seal. According to previous experience, this kind of drunk doctor does not want to save, but this fake note is not trivial, and the hospital has to pay attention to it.
Hospital leaders quickly arranged for emergency care and asked the emergency department to call the KGB and tell them that a KGB agent had been admitted here.
On the morning of December 27, the KGB received news that there was a "man of its own" lying in the hospital. The KGB immediately sent someone to the hospital to check and found that the patient was Major Afanasyev, who served in the 8th Bureau of the KGB.
The doctor said he had been beaten, badly injured in his internal organs and head, and had been frozen outside at minus 30 degrees for hours, and there was little chance of recovery.
"Vyacheslav . Afanasyev is in hospital, dying. ”
The news was delivered to the 8th bureau of the KGB, and Afanasyev's colleagues and family arrived at the scene within an hour, looking at the unconscious Afanasyev, and everyone present looked solemn.
Because on the day of the incident, it was Afanasyev's 40th birthday, he celebrated with colleagues and friends in a tavern, and everyone drank very much, but he did not expect him to become like this the next day.
Then the police also came to the scene and they gave an obvious answer: "This unfortunate gentleman encountered a robbery, which is common in winter. ”
Those present believed that the possibility of being robbed was the greatest. If this happens to an ordinary person, they will follow the police to file a case, of course, most of the time this kind of case is not followed, because there are too many such things.
But this wounded man was a KGB major, a top stratum of the Soviet Union, and his affairs could not be left unsettled.
The KGB 8th Directorate operators decided to get justice for their colleagues, and they began investigating Afanasyev's family, step by step to find out what he had done on December 26.
According to the introduction of Afanasier and his son, he took leave to go home that day, saying that he was unwell, went to the hospital to prescribe a little medicine, and went home to rest for a while.
In the afternoon, Afanasyev said he was better, and he insisted on celebrating his birthday with friends. He bought some fancy food and wine and went to the tavern to meet friends.
These canned fish, cured meat, candy, and imported liquor are all special food provided by officials that ordinary people cannot buy, and they are expensive on the black market.
That night, the wine market dispersed, and Afanasyev himself went to take the subway, and the clue was broken. Because Afanasyev's carry-on bag was gone, it was suspected that these things may have aroused the interest of the gangsters.
After the incident, Afanasyev was treated in the hospital, but four days later, he died of his injuries.
As a veteran operator, a veteran of the Soviet army, Afanasyev had deep connections in the army and the KGB, and he could not die without knowing it.
The reason why Andropov was so serious was also due to a habit of the Soviet government department - the commanders of the major departments had the obligation to protect "their own people", the purpose was to unite the people, otherwise the work would not be able to advance.
And the KGB was not peaceful at that time, and the poor work of Soviet foreign intelligence at the end of the 70s and the increase in defecting agents made Andropov feel pressure.
If the accidental murder of the operator is not vigorously investigated, it will inevitably affect the reputation of the KGB and further affect his career.
Second, the Soviet Union suffered from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a long time
To solve the case, the KGB found Afanasyev's friends, and they drank with Afanasyev that night and gave him many gifts.
After understanding, around 9 o'clock that night, Afanasyev got on the No. 5 subway to go home, he and his friends said goodbye at the subway station, and no one knew his whereabouts after that.
Soon, KGB operators arrived at the police station of Moscow Metro Line 5, where they found conductors, duty policemen, cleaners, but their confessions were of little value.
On the winter subway, there are too many drunk people who simply do not remember what Afanasyev looked like. The KGB thought that the clue to this matter was so broken, but it did not expect to be found in a bus stop dumpster.
Near the location where Afanasyev was found, there was a bus stop where Afanasyev's briefcase and belongings were found inside the bus stop trash can.
The KGB rushed to the scene, looked for all possible witnesses, and finally an inconspicuous cleaner spoke, who was at work after 4 a.m., and saw a police car coming over the neighborhood.
The KGB came to Metro Line 5 and concentrated on interrogating the crew and police, and Andropov also greeted the political and legal system, and the Moscow Prosecutor's Office opened a case and set up an investigation team to cooperate with the KGB in the investigation of the case.
Afanasyev's name spread throughout Moscow, and citizens on their way to work were talking about "someone killed the KGB" and "something may happen in Moscow recently."
In early January 1981, Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs Xiaolokov received a secret report, handed in by the lower metro police station, which wrote everything that happened near Metro Line 5 from the night of December 26 to the early morning of December 27, 1980.
Barishev, the chief of the police station on Line 5, said that three of his men, Popov, Rasokhin and Lobanov, got drunk that day and stopped a drunk man's trouble.
And the three policemen hit a little hard that night, and the drunk man was killed. Xiaolokov was surprised to find that the time of the drunk's death matched Afanasyev's, and he knew that this was not trivial.
Sholokov, Minister of Internal Affairs, was the most senior Soviet bureaucrat, but he was also unstable in 1981. The head of the KGB Andropov and he were bitter rivals, and both competed for favor in front of Brezhnev.
Sholokov looked down on the KGB in his heart, because when the KGB was first born in the 50s of the 20th century, this department was subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was the younger brother of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
But then Khrushchev separated the KGB and subordinated it to the Central Committee of the CPSU. Throughout the Brezhnev period, both departments were responsible for maintaining stability and law and order in the country, and the lower levels often fought for power, which was considered a hostile relationship.
Another reason why the KGB actively targeted the Ministry of Internal Affairs was anti-corruption.
During the Brezhnev period, Soviet officials lived in extreme luxury, enjoying villas, cars, servants, and endless special food, as well as imported clothing and crafts.
These things were common for high-ranking Soviet officials, who often gave each other luxury goods and compared them to each other. After receiving gifts, officials naturally exchange benefits, collude to grab greater benefits, or cover up each other's mistakes.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for law and order in the Soviet Union at that time, and General Sholokov was a close friend of Brezhnev, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs had no fear, and officials large and small were corrupt and scourge the people.
The Soviet police's clearance rate was the lowest in history, but the complaint rate was the highest in history, all of which were seen by the KGB.
The KGB has always wanted to clean up the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and there is one chance left.
In January 1981, because of Afanasyev's death, the KGB began to press on the ground.
Xiaolokov told the Line 5 police station that the incident could not be leaked out in any way, and if the police killed the KGB was exposed, his career would be over.
Third, the highlights of the KGB, but they showed the problems of the Soviet Union
At that time, the Central Committee of the CPSU was electing the next chairman, Andropov and Xiaolokov were candidates, and he did not want to lose this opportunity because of three incompetent subordinates.
But the KGB acted faster than the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and just as Sholokov ordered the secrecy, the chief of the police station on Line 5, the flight attendants on duty that night, and all the policemen were taken away for interrogation.
Sholokov could not do anything, because they were the KGB, they could arrest whoever they wanted, and no one could bother.
After being taken away by the KGB, these people were frightened before they arrived at the KGB building, and basically said something. In the group, only three police officers and sub-chiefs had scrambled testimony, and the KGB basically concluded that they were related to the case.
Subsequently, the three enjoyed the world-famous "KGB package", that is, the interrogation system for dealing with spies, and finally the few people told the whole story of the day.
It turned out that Afanasyev drank too much that night, fell asleep on the metro and slept until the terminus of line 5 - Zhdanov. Here the flight attendant woke up Afanasyev, who got up and left, forgetting his bag.
When the flight attendant opened the bag and found that it contained high-end food and alcohol, he wanted to take it for himself. As a result, Afanasyev turned back to find the bag and got into an argument with the flight attendant.
Afanasyev was beaten to the head and bloodied, then taken to the police office, where the bag was also taken by the police. In the police office, Afanasyev showed his KGB officer ID, and the drunkenness of the three policemen was half frightened.
Afanasyev said that he would report the incident, beat citizens for no reason, and rob other people's property, which is a crime.
The three policemen thought that they could not keep their jobs in this way, so they simply did not do two things, and beat Afanasyev until they lost the ability to resist.
Later, Barishev, the chief of the Line 5 police station, arrived at the police office, and after listening to the reports of three of his subordinates, his heart fell to the bottom.
The officer's ID card showed that this person was a major, and the KGB of this level was not trivial, and if this matter was not handled well, it would lose its head.
Subsequently, several people decided to throw Afanasyev outdoors and pretend to be robbed, which led to his discovery in the early hours of December 27.
When the truth came out, the KGB and the Moscow prosecutor's office jointly enforced the law, arrested four people who violated the law, and brought them to court and sentenced them to death.
Andropov put pressure on the propaganda department, and Soviet newspapers reported on the Afanasyev massacre under the title "Zhdanov Metro Murder", which caused a sensation in the Soviet Union for a while, and even foreign countries reacted.
Think about it, even the KGB could not protect itself in the face of police violence, so how should civilians deal with themselves in front of the police?
Soon, letters of complaint from all over the country flew in like snowflakes, all reporting police crimes, from corruption and bribery to excessive violence, and even robbery, theft, and rape.
The purge centered on Moscow, with the subway police department almost completely canceled, hundreds of police officers revoked their documents and sent to the monitoring department for investigation, and tens of thousands of people were expelled from the police force across the country.
The investigation and purge of the police in the Soviet Union lasted two years, and although Xiaolokov had been protecting his men, he could not do much in the face of popular grievances.
Because of this scandal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs lost trust, and Sholokov completely lost the opportunity to compete for the next chairman.
When Andropov came to power in November 1982, Sholokov was liquidated, and the KGB considered his family fortune to be beyond normal limits, in the words of the investigative report:
"In addition to the benefits given to him by the motherland, Xiaolovov has a large number of unknown assets, especially 500,000 rubles that cannot be explained, and it should be corruption and bribery."
Sholokov was taken down, subjected to a long investigation, and finally in 1984, he shot himself with a hunting large-caliber rifle, dying a brutal death.
As a Red Man of the Brezhnev era, Sholokov's suicide was a tragedy, and Soviet historians consider him a victim of the power struggle within the party.
But it cannot be denied that Xiaolokov's indulgence of his subordinates did make countless Soviets live in the shadow of the black police.
An Afanasyev case arguably changed the history of the Soviet Union, freeing the Soviet people temporarily from dark police corruption.
But this case also exposed the shortcomings of Soviet society, that is, high-level group corruption, the lower class of corpses are vegetarian, officials are in a group to protect, political enemies are fighting each other, ordinary people are at the bottom of the entire social system, and no one listens to their cries.
At the end of the Soviet Union, ordinary people lined up for an hour in the cold wind to buy two pounds of oranges, while police resold fruit at high prices on the black market, and officials lay at home enjoying special offerings.
The essence of this status quo is actually the corruption of power, and its cruelty can no longer be measured by the simple gap between the rich and the poor in society. The growing discontent of the Soviet people eventually crushed the regime.
Literature / Commerce
Reference: "Reorganization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR", Chauvy