The funeral process of Brezhnev's death

1982165438+1October1kloc-0/,yuri andropov was appointed as the chairman of Brezhnev's funeral committee, which marked the official start of Brezhnev's funeral preparations. The appointment of President funeral committee has made western commentators think that andropov is the most likely candidate for the next general secretary.

Traditionally, when the funeral of a Soviet leader is escorted by a coffin, all the medals won by the leaders in front will be supported by people behind the coffin with velvet to show their respect. Similarly, by convention, senior officials of the Soviet government are generally responsible for escorting medals, and everyone will only hold a velvet pad with only one medal. However, in front of Brezhnev, there are more than 200 medals, large and small. During the funeral, several medals were placed in each velvet cushion. Finally, 44 people attended the escort of Brezhnev's coffin.

During the funeral, Brezhnev's notorious daughter, Galina Brezhneva, was always watched by two burly bodyguards. Andropov gave Brezhnev's wife Victoria Brezhnev a courtesy hug at the funeral, but always turned his back on his daughter Galina. However, whether this is the case has always been controversial. For example, an article in Time Magazine 1982 claimed that andropov embraced Galina and Victoria, not just Victoria. Even so, andropov ordered Galina not to appear in public for fifteen months. At the funeral, andropov praised Brezhnev for "doing his best to ease the international tension and eliminate the nuclear war problem facing mankind" and praised his "relaxation policy". When andrei kirilenko, a cadre of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, saw Victoria Brezhneva, he couldn't hide his sadness and wept bitterly.

1982165438+1October 15 On the day of the funeral, Russian police forces imposed martial law in the center of Moscow. The main roads in the city are guarded by police and Moscow armed forces. The front of the trade union building is also full of soldiers wearing red armbands, and the trade union building is covered with countless red flags and the * * * logo of the production party. Brezhnev's body was placed in the trade union building for three days. On the third day, his coffin will be moved from Soviet army officials to Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square. Subsequently, andropov, Soviet Defense Minister ustinov, President of the Soviet Academy of Sciences Anatoly Alexandrov and a worker representative delivered speeches at the funeral. After the speech, Brezhnev's coffin was carried to another place closer to Lenin's mausoleum by andropov, nikolai tikhonov, chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers and others. Here, the Brezhnev family bid farewell to leonid ilyich brezhnev's body and prepared for burial. Before burial, Victoria Brezhnev kissed Brezhnev on the cheek according to Russian custom. When Brezhnev's body fell to the bottom of the dug grave, the orchestra played the national anthem of the Soviet Union, the church bells rang, and the Soviet troops present paid tribute to Brezhnev in the tomb. Then the Soviet army held a military parade in Red Square.

Brezhnev's body fell twice, once when he was parked in the trade union building, Brezhnev's body fell from the bottom of the coffin. Then, people prepared a brand-new metal coffin for it, but in the process of burial, the coffin keeper failed to bear the weight of the coffin, making it fall heavily into the grave and make a huge noise. However, this statement was refuted by the coffin guard Georgi kovalenko. According to him, 20 minutes before the coffin was buried, Xie Miao Shorniko, the coffin keeper of Klimlin, told him that Brezhnev's body could not be buried until the bell rang, so the sound was not caused by the coffin falling.