Radio Moscow (Coverage of end of coup attempt): August 22, 1991

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Radio Moscow coverage of the end of the coup attempt. Per Wikipedia: The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, was an attempt made by members of the government of the Soviet Union to take control of the country from Soviet President and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The coup leaders were hard-line members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and the new union treaty that he had negotiated, which decentralized much of the central government's power to the republics. They were opposed, mainly in Moscow, by a short but effective campaign of civil resistance led by Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who had been both an ally and critic of Gorbachev. Although the coup collapsed in only two days and Gorbachev returned to power, the event destabilized the USSR and is widely considered to have contributed to both the demise of the CPSU and the dissolution of the USSR.

Date of recording: 8/22/1991

Starting time: 0300 UTC

Frequency: Unknown

Reception location: Minnetonka, MN

Receiver and antenna: ICOM R71A

Radio Moscow - Warmongers' Monthly: September 8, 1987

STATE EMBLEM OF THE SOVIET UNION

Live, off-air, approximately 20-minute recording of the program "Warmongers' Monthly" transmitted as part of the daily evening show "Tonight" in the North American Service of Radio Moscow on 8 September 1987 around 01:20 UTC on 7400 kHz. The broadcast originated from one of the many Radio Moscow transmission sites in the Soviet Union or was relayed by a site in eastern Europe or Cuba. Radio Moscow never released detailed information on its frequencies and transmitter sites.

"Warmongers' Monthly" was a satirical program targeting (mostly) U.S. policies during the final years of the Cold War. It was hosted by Vasily Strelnikov. He was sometimes accompanied, as in this recording, by Dmitri Linnik. This particular episode on nuclear proliferation was called "A Study in Red" -- a parody of Arthur Conan Doyles' "A Study in Scarlet." Amongst others, famous Radio Moscow personality Joe Adamov also took part in the episode. A brief station identification follows the program and then the transmitter abruptly switches off.

Note that Radio Moscow became the Voice of Russia in 1993, subsequent to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991.

The time given for the recording might be the midpoint of the program rather than the start of it as the transmitter left the air shortly after the end of the program, which typically happened on the hour or half hour.

Reception of the broadcast was very good.

The broadcast was received in Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada, using a Sony ICF-7600D receiver and supplied wire antenna draped around the listening room.