Press conference of the People's Rada, August 20, 1991

Video from the personal archive of Yaroslav Kendzor.

August 20, 1991, Kyiv.

On the video: a press conference of the participants of the People's Rada, dedicated to the events in the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Yemets talks about the results of the meeting of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada, reads out the statement of the Presidium, talks about the opposition, the resolution of the State Emergency Committee, the state of emergency in the territory of the Ukrainian SSR, measures of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR to protect the consumer market; speech by Volodymyr Yavorivskyi about the events in Moscow, reads out a separate statement from seven members of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR (Dmytro Pavlychko, Volodymyr Yavorivskyi, Volodymyr Hrynyov, Les Tanyuk, Igor Yukhnovskyi, Oleksandr Yemets, Volodymyr Pylypchuk), answers a journalist's question; Vyacheslav Chornovil reports that as of 5 p.m., Boris Yeltsin's candidacy in Russia has been supported by the regions of the RSFSR; comments on the readiness of the Donetsk region to strike; mentions the end of a large rally in Lviv; speech by Volodymyr Filenko on the results of a joint meeting of representatives of the People's Council and political parties and public organizations of a democratic orientation, the need to create a joint appeal, reads out the appeal; discussion on the creation of a coalition of a democratic orientation; speech by Ivan Zayts on the statement of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR; Levko Lukyanenko on the position of democratic forces, speaks about the need to inform people on the ground, to mobilize them for meetings, rallies, and strikes; speech by Valery Khmelko informs about events from the Russian parliament; the representative of Czechoslovakia reads out the statement of President Vaclav Havel on the situation in the USSR and the statement of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia on the division of the USSR; Vitaliy Portnikov speaks, comments on the telephone conversation between Yeltsin and Yanayev; the chairman of the meeting reads out a statement by the President of Georgia (Sakartvelo) Zviad Gamsakhurdia; reads out the appeal of the Ukrainian Student Union to the people of Ukraine, reads out the response of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada (the association of RUH supporters) to the RUH appeal regarding Roman Zvarych’s false testimony about Volodymyr Yavorivskyi; a question from a journalist, answered by Volodymyr Yavorivskyi; reading out the application from the Ukrainian Interparty Assembly: Vyacheslav Chornovil reads out a note.

Comments: member of the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Yemets; writer, member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union Volodymyr Yavorivskyi; people’s deputy from the Party of Democratic Revival of Ukraine (PDVU) Volodymyr Filenko; deputy chairman of the Council of Collegiums of the People’s Rukh Ivan Zayets; People's Deputy, member of the People's Movement and its Great Council Vyacheslav Chornovil; Head of the Republican Scientific and Practical Sociological Center of the Sociological Association of Ukraine Valeriy Khmelko.