Russia reflects on collapse of USSR

Muscovites gather on Sunday, holding Russian flags and portraits of Boris Yeltsin

MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia is marking the 10th anniversary of a failed coup by hardline communists which dealt a mortal blow to the Soviet Union.

Around 150 Muscovites who defended the Russian parliament building from tanks sent to crush resistance in 1991 gathered outside the "White House" building on Sunday -- now home to the Russian government.

CNN's Jill Dougherty says that when a small group of communists arrived at Sunday's gathering carrying flags and banners, scuffles and fights broke out.

But the commemorations have been low-key. President Vladimir Putin, who is currently on holiday, has to date not spoken on the anniversary and what it means for post-Soviet Russia.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: Soviet legacy: From communism through chaos     MORE STORIES Eyewitness: CNN's Eileen O'Connor looks back   Jailed ex-Stalin agent talks   Mother keeps vigil for daughter felled by tanks     AUDIO CNN's Jill Dougherty: The coup still brings out mixed emotions 1.62 MB / 154 sec WAV sound Michael McFaul, of the Carnegie Endowment: The fruits of the revolution are still yet to come 3.01 MB / 287 sec WAV sound    Soviet Uprising: Collapse of a Coup Special Program on CNN International TV 1730 GMT Monday, Aug. 20 2100 GMT Monday, Aug. 20

Observers have pointed out that a number of coup leaders were invited to his inauguration in May last year.

Also not taking part in the commemorations was ex-President of Boris Yeltsin, whose speech atop a Russian tank rallied the nation and faced down the putsch by the eight-man State Emergency Situation Committee.

By contrast, some of the coup leaders were marking the anniversary.

CNN's Jill Dougherty said they were "unrepentant," saying that Russia today is worse off than ever before.

A rally to honour the coup plotters was being held at Pushkin Square, with a speech from hardline nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

He says he wished the coup had succeeded, but welcomed the collapse of communism.

"One should have gotten rid of the Communist Party, given up the unproductive communist ideology, but preserved the country's territory, its army and the KGB," he told the Interfax news agency.

The August 19, 1991, coup began with music by Chopin and Tchaikovsky, the classical harbingers of grave news in the Soviet Union, being played on state television and radio as the coup leaders announced that Gorbachev was sick and unable to perform his duties, and they were taking control.

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Gorbachev had been detained at his summer house by hardliners opposed to his reform attempts.

On August 19, 1991 Yeltsin climbed aboard a tank outside the Russian parliament and defied the hard-liners coup

At that time, Yeltsin was President of the Russian Federation, one of the USSR's 15 republics.

By the time the sun set on August 19, 1991, tens of thousands of people had answered his call for resistance to the coup leaders, making barricades around the building where the Russian parliament met.

Two days later, the tanks withdrew, the coup plotters fled and Gorbachev returned to Moscow. Three people died defending the parliament building.

But although Gorbachev retained his office, his political and moral authority had dissolved. The Soviet republics, already straining at the leash of Kremlin control, pushed harder for independence.

On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev signed the Soviet Union out of existence. Yeltsin was in the ascendancy and it was he who assumed power in the Kremlin.

For many Russians, freedom has brought poverty and uncertainty

Observers say the collapse of the Soviet Union was an exhilarating and wrenching experience for its 290 million people.

Some have thrived with the new opportunities, but others saw their jobs disappear, their savings become near-worthless amid economic crises and their pensions and salaries go unpaid for months.

Commemorations of the coup were also planned in a number of cities outside Moscow.