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Viktor Ilyin | |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin (1947-12-26)26 December 1947 (age 78) |
| Residence | Saint Petersburg |
| Known for | Assassination attempt ofLeonid Brezhnev |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Branch/service | Soviet Army |
| Years of service | 1968–1969 |
| Rank | Second lieutenant |
Viktor Ivanovich Ilyin (Russian:Ви́ктор Ива́нович Ильи́н; born 26 December 1947) is a formerSoviet Army officer whoattempted to assassinate theSoviet leader,Leonid Brezhnev, on 22 January 1969 inMoscow.
Ilyin was born inLeningrad on 26 December 1947. He was less than two years old when he was taken away from his alcoholic parents and grew up in a foster family. He entered a topographical technical school and desired to become a geologist.[1]
He was distressed by theSoviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968,[2] and had questioned local ideology officials about thePrague Spring.[citation needed]
After travelling to many different regions, Ilyin was left with a "depressing impression" of "poverty, drunkenness, devastation" - different to what Soviet television showed. As a result, he drafted a reform plan which included a monthly payment to each citizen from natural resource sales, which he sent to the Kremlin, but did not receive a response. He said that was when he decided to kill Brezhnev so that everyone would know of his ideas, where he planned to speak about his plan in court. He spent almost a year preparing to assassinate him and joined the army after graduation to gain access to weapons.[1]
When Ilyin was on duty, he stole twoMakarov guns and four magazines from his army unit's safe and went to Moscow. He went to the Kremlin, and looked for a good firing position, choosing a place very close to the entrance gate. When the motorcade entered the gates ofBorovitskaya Tower, carrying cosmonauts and top Soviet leaders, Ilyin fired his pistols at the second vehicle that he erroneously thought was carrying Leonid Brezhnev. The vehicle was occupied by the cosmonautsGeorgy Beregovoy,Alexei Leonov,Andrian Nikolaev, andValentina Tereshkova. A bullet killed the limousine driver Ilya Zharkov who was driving as a substitute on his last day before retirement. Beregovoy was wounded,[3] and Vasiliy Zatsipilin, who was part of the motorcycle escort, was also hit, but was able to aim his motorcycle at Ilyin, bringing him down.[4] The guards arrested Ilyin.
Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB, personally questioned Ilyin. During his interrogation, the recording of which was found in the Russian State Archives after 1991, Ilyin told Andropov that his motivation to assassinate Brezhnev was to have him replaced with his Second Secretary and Party IdeologueMikhail Suslov (whom Ilyin called "the most outstanding person in the party at the moment"). Whether this was true or if he was simply trying to provoke infighting within the Politburo remains unknown.[5] He was facing the death penalty, but after an investigation, he was considered insane and was placed in apsikhushka for 20 years. In 1990, he was released.[6]