The stadium was not yet equipped with a roof over the stands, and by the start of the game only two stands were cleared of snow and opened for fans: “A” (west) and “C” (east). Both stands accommodated 23 thousand spectators.

During the match, there were only about four thousand spectators in stand "A", the majority of fans (about 12 thousand) preferred stand "C", which is located closer to the metro. Most of the fans came to support Spartak; there were only about a hundred Dutch fans.

Until the very last minute of the match, the score was 1:0 in favor of Spartak, and many frozen spectators reached for the exit. According to some sources, the police directed people down the steps; according to others, only one exit from the podium was open.

The tragedy happened in the last minute of the match. Twenty seconds before the final whistle, Sergei Shvetsov scored the second goal against the guests. Hearing the joyful roar of Spartak fans, the spectators who had managed to leave the stands turned back and encountered a stream of people going down. In a narrow space, on the icy steps, a crush arose. Those who stumbled and fell were immediately trampled by the crowd. The metal railings also could not withstand the load, causing people to fall from great heights onto bare concrete.

By official version investigation, 66 people died as a result of the tragedy. According to unofficial information, which was not disclosed for many years, about 340 people lost their lives that day.

The Soviet authorities tried to hide information about the tragedy. The next day, the only message appeared in the newspaper “Evening Moscow” - a small note on the last page: “On October 20, after a football match at the Grand Sports Arena of the Central Stadium named after V.I. Lenin, when spectators were leaving, as a result of a violation of the order of people’s movement, an accident occurred. There are injuries. An investigation into the circumstances of the incident is underway."

The truth about what happened at the match was revealed to the authorities only in 1989.

During the investigation of the tragedy, it was established that during the stampede there were only fans on the stairs; there were no police officers among the dead.

As a forensic medical examination showed, all 66 people died from compression asphyxia as a result of compression chest and belly. None of the victims died in the hospital or in ambulances. 61 people were injured and injured, including 21 seriously.

Officially, the main culprits of the tragedy were named as the director of the stadium Viktor Kokryshev, his deputy Lyzhin and the commandant of the stadium Yuri Panchikhin, who worked in this position for two and a half months. A criminal case was initiated against these persons under Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (negligent performance of official powers). The court sentenced each of them to three years in prison. However, at this time an amnesty was issued in connection with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the USSR, under which Kokryshev and Lyzhin fell. Panchikhin's prison term was reduced by half. He was sent to forced labor.

The commander of the police unit that ensured the protection of public order on stand "C", Major Semyon Koryagin, was held criminally liable. But due to the injury received in the stampede at the stadium, the case against him was separated into separate proceedings, and later he was granted an amnesty.

In 1992, on the territory of the Luzhniki sports complex, a monument to “Those Who Died in the Stadiums of the World” was erected (architect - Georgy Lunacharsky, sculptor - Mikhail Skovorodin). The plaque at the memorial reads: “This monument was erected to the children who died on October 20, 1982 after a football match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem from Holland. Remember them.”

October 20, 2007 at the Luzhniki Stadium, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. The match featured veterans of Spartak and Haarlem, including participants in the 1982 game: Rinat Dasaev, Sergei Rodionov, Fedor Cherenkov, Sergei Shvetsov, the Dutch Eduard Metgood, Keith Masefield, Frank van Leen, Peter Kehr and others.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

At the very end of the 1/16 UEFA Cup match between Spartak and the Dutch Haarlem, a stampede occurred in the stands, in which, according to official data, 66 people died. According to unofficial data, collected mainly by relatives of the victims, it is significantly more than 300.

On October 21, 2017, in the match of the 14th round of the RFPL championship, Spartak hosts Amkar. In memory of the terrible tragedy that happened 35 years ago, a memorial plaque will be installed at the Otkritie Arena stadium, and the meeting will begin with a minute of silence...

How was it?

On October 20, 1982 in Moscow it was not just cold, but very cold. For mid-autumn it is extremely cold. Even the day before, the city was covered with snow, and by evening the temperature dropped below minus 10. Many people somehow had no time for football. The match, which on a good day could have attracted a full house (the playoffs of a European club tournament, after all!), lost its original appeal, and the stands of the 82,000-seat Luzha were not even a quarter full. Which in the end, no matter how blasphemous it sounds, affected the scale of the tragedy.

“Spartak” was, of course, considered the favorite in this pair, and confirmed its status at the very beginning of the match: in the 16th minute Edgar Hess opened an account. It seemed that it would continue to roll like this, just have time to keep an eye on the scoreboard, but that was not the case. The match suddenly took on a tense character, and the fans had to entertain themselves with winter fun to keep warm. Snowballs were flying all over the perimeter, and the police also got it, and they reacted extremely negatively to the “aggression”...

Not everyone had the strength and patience to wait for the final whistle. Towards the end of the match, numb fans moved to the exit, creating a dense flow at the so-called “first” staircase of stand C, for some reason the only one left for passage. According to one version, due to the negligence of stadium workers. According to another, because of revenge on the part of police officers for snow shelling during the match.

Be that as it may, a dull crush gradually arose in this artificially created “pipe”: too many people wanting to quickly dive into the subway and the corridor was too narrow, leaving no room for maneuver.

And it must happen that 20 seconds before the end of the match, Spartak forward Sergei Shvetsov succeeded in another accurate shot - 2:0! The reaction of the crowd was as predictable as it was unexpected: a dense mass of people, moving in one direction, suddenly stood up and swayed back. The front rows slowed down, the rear rows continued moving by inertia...

“When I saw the strange, somehow unnaturally thrown back face of a guy with a trickle of blood from his nose and realized that he was unconscious, I became scared,” one of the eyewitnesses of the tragedy later recalled. “The weakest died here, in the corridor.” Their limp bodies continued to move towards the exit along with the living. But the worst thing happened on the stairs. Someone tripped and fell. Those who stopped to try to help were immediately crushed by the flow, felled and trampled. Others continued to stumble over them, the mountain of bodies grew. The stair railings gave way.

It was the most real meat grinder. A terrible, unreal picture...

Top secret

In our time, when every fan has his own media in his pocket, one cannot even think that the authorities have kept information about the terrible Luzhniki tragedy as secret as possible. On October 21, “Evening Moscow” published small print the following information: “Yesterday at Luzhniki after the end of a football match, an accident occurred. There are casualties among the fans.” And for a long time it was the only mention of the Luzhnikov tragedy in the Soviet press.

The country learned about what happened in Moscow on October 20, 1982 only 7 years later, when Soviet Sport journalists began investigating. And they very quickly, literally after the first publication, shut their mouths.

Who's to blame?

The special services carried out “work” with the stadium employees and eyewitnesses, the officials were carefully briefed, and the investigation was kept as secret as possible. That is why it is still unclear how, why and through whose fault the terrible tragedy became possible.

“I was among the police officers who ensured public order on that tragic evening,” recalls Police Colonel Vyacheslav Bondarev. — Over time, many blamed the police for the tragedy, but, in my opinion, it was the administration of the Big Sports Arena that was to blame for what happened. It so happened that the bulk of the spectators gathered in the Eastern and Western stands, each of which accommodated about 22 thousand in those days. The North and South stands were completely empty. As the game came to an end, people gradually began to leave their seats and head towards the exit. And suddenly Spartak scores a second goal. General rejoicing began, and the fans who had gathered to go home moved in the opposite direction. Confusion, crush. Here they would let people into the South Stand, and even open the exits there... Then the flow of people would pass through the exits from the four stands. Alas, this was not done.

Then everything happened as in nightmare. I saw the ambulances arrive and the evacuation of the victims begin. There was no blood. People suffered so-called non-mechanical injuries. In the maddening flow, some fans fell to the ground and others immediately fell on them. Those who found themselves at the very bottom of the resulting pile of bodies apparently died from the crush, some simply suffocated. The stairs leading to the exit were covered with ice and snow; stadium workers didn't even bother to sprinkle sand on them. People slipped and fell in best case scenario got injured...

“These are all cop stories,” the famous “Professor” retorts. Amir Khuslyutdinov, one of the most respected Spartak fans, who found himself at the epicenter of events 35 years ago. - How many times has this happened? People come out of the stands, and then Spartak scores a goal. Everyone screams and rejoices, but continues to move. Nobody ever returned. This version was invented by the police so that no one could see their fault in what happened. Like, two streams collided, and they couldn’t do anything about it.

I had a ticket to stand B, but since the opponent was not very significant, and not many people came to the match, a thousand spectators were placed in stand A, the rest were sent to stand C. The rest were 14 thousand 200 people. Two flights of stairs from the upper sectors led to one so-called common balcony. And of the four exits from it, only one was open. Snowballs also played their role. The people who were supposed to keep order at the stadium and abide by the law were very angry with us because of this snow shelling. There was evidence that fans were being pushed towards the exit. The fans moved towards the goal in a dense stream, pressing against each other. One sharp push, another, and now someone who was weaker fell, the person walking behind tripped over him and also found himself underfoot... But the people continued to move, trampling the weak. The instinct of self-preservation is a thing that sometimes completely turns off conscience and compassion. People, surrounded on all sides by a crowd, suffocated, lost consciousness, fell... Panic grew, no one was able to take control of the situation.

On the very balcony where the two streams connected, there were railings. Well welded railings. However, they could not withstand the pressure large quantity people. Those who fell from the balcony escaped with broken bones. Those who remained at the top found themselves under the rubble...

We found the last one

The investigation into the tragedy was conducted by the investigative team of the Moscow Prosecutor's Office, and according to purely external signs- interrogations of 150 witnesses, more than 10 volumes of the case - there seem to be no questions for the investigation. But it is clear that an objective investigation of the Luzhnikov tragedy in the conditions of that time was completely impossible. The culprits were simply assigned.

The sword of “justice” ultimately fell on Commandant of the Great Sports Arena Panchikhin, who, in essence, had nothing to do with the organization of the match, and in general worked in this position for a couple of months. It is known that Panchikhin was sentenced to 3 years of correctional labor, of which he served one and a half years. Director of BSA Kokryshev, sentenced to the same 3 years, was granted amnesty. And history is silent about other punishments, even if there were any.

“The authorities were not afraid of us, but of the performances of Spartak fans,” she recalled in an interview with Sport Express. Raisa Viktorova, mother of 17-year-old Oleg who died at Luzhniki. “They didn’t let me into the court at all, because the summons was sent only in the name of my husband. I started a scandal. I didn't care at that moment. Not much time had passed, and we were ready to tear the entire police to pieces. The case consisted of 12 volumes. Nevertheless, one day was enough for the trial. They came to the conclusion that it was just an accident and punished one commandant. Many years later investigator named Speer, who was involved in our case, became seriously ill. He was tormented by his conscience, and he wanted to apologize to us, his parents, for following the lead of the authorities, but he didn’t have time. And from the first day we knew that the police were to blame. When a year later they came to the place where our guys died to honor their memory, KGB officers stood around with inscrutable faces in black jackets and ties. They didn't even allow us to lay flowers. We threw them over the fence. All sorts of obstacles were created for almost ten years. For the tenth anniversary, a memorial was erected in Luzhniki, and I bow deeply to the people who paid attention to us...

And now about football

In the return match, Spartak beat the Dutch no less confidently - 3:1 - and made it to the 1/8 finals, where they failed to cope with the Spanish Valencia (0:0 and 0:2).

But who cares about this now?

Since 1982 in foreign media Information about an explosion allegedly committed by American intelligence services on a Soviet gas pipeline in Siberia is periodically discussed. Western journalists are persistently trying to prove the theft of foreign technology that was installed on the exploded pipe.

Phantom Explosion

American military expert Thomas Reed and American political scientist Peter Schweitzer in the book “Above the Abyss. Story cold war, told by its participant” claim that in 1982 in the USSR there was a powerful explosion on the Urengoy-Surgut-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline, which was the result of a CIA operation prepared on the basis of information provided by KGB agent Vladimir Vetrov. In particular, the book says that the plan to organize economic sabotage against the Soviet Union through the secret transfer of technology with hidden defects was approved by President Ronald Reagan himself. However, Russian sources deny the fact of technology transfer, as well as the accident itself.

Nevertheless, the Americans not only claim that there was an explosion, but also call it a man-made disaster and “the largest CIA sabotage on the territory of the USSR.” Information about the incident appeared in various open sources in the West almost immediately after the incident and its essence boiled down to the fact that it was the strongest nuclear explosion, whose power corresponded to 3 kilotons. The flash was recorded by American reconnaissance satellites, and at first it was mistaken for a nuclear explosion. However, the absence of an electromagnetic pulse that accompanies such explosions changed the conclusions of experts. Soon, according to publications, in White House clarifications were received from the CIA director, who reported: “Everything is fine, the explosion is our job.”

American sabotage

Richard Clarke and Robert Knake, authors of The Third world war: what will it be like? express their views on the events described. In their opinion, the situation was as follows. In the early 1980s. the Soviet leadership set before foreign intelligence the task of obtaining a number of latest technologies, which was quite successfully accomplished.

Soon, the CIA, having analyzed the scientific and technical achievements of the USSR, came to the conclusion that they were mostly copies of Western technical innovations. In response, the US government imposed strict restrictions on exports to Soviet Union computers and software. However, the achievements of Western scientific thought still continued to seep into the USSR.

In July 1981, at an economic forum in Ottawa, French President François Mitterrand shared with White House President Ronald Reagan information that French intelligence had recruited KGB agent Vladimir Vetrov, who was analyzing data collected by Directorate T (scientific and technical intelligence).

According to Mitterrand, by this time Vetrov, already working under the pseudonym Farewell, had handed over about 4 thousand secret documents to the French side, and also provided the names of “hundreds of Soviet agents and buyers” who stole or bought through figureheads technologies prohibited for sale in the USSR.

The Americans received full picture industrial espionage of the USSR, however, they decided not to rush the situation, but to continue supplying Moscow with the latest products, but in their own interests. At this time, the USSR was actively building the Trans-Siberian pipeline to Europe. And, according to Richard Clarke and Robert Nake, the CIA slipped substandard automated control systems to one of the Soviet "purchasers" of equipment for the facility. Defective chips were installed in the computer units of these systems. They passed the control check, but with longer work they had to create an emergency situation. And so it happened, at first the program showed itself with the best side, but the moment came when she gave the command to close the valve in one segment of the pipeline, and in the other to release gas at full capacity. As a result, the pressure exceeded the permissible level, the welds failed, gas escaped and “the most powerful non-nuclear explosion in history” occurred.

Closer to reality

And yet there are many ambiguities in this story. In the USSR, nothing was reported about the accident either in 1982 or after. It is impossible to establish the exact date of this disaster. Retired KGB General Vasily Pchelintsev, who headed the state security structures in the Tyumen region, in an interview with the Trud newspaper in 2004, called the version of the explosion “complete nonsense.” But he added that in April 1982, not far from Tobolsk, there was an explosion of two lines of the Urengoy-Chelyabinsk gas pipeline, which was in no way connected with foreign intelligence services. It's all about the Russian "maybe". After an inspection by the competent authorities, it was revealed that along the 700-kilometer section of the gas pipeline, Neftegazstroy workers did not install a single “weight” - a massive concrete ring that presses the pipe to the ground and keeps it from floating in marshy soils.

As a result, when the spring thaw began, pipes in wetlands floated to the surface and one of them cracked. The jet that burst out was so powerful that it pierced the pipe of a parallel gas pipeline. The explosion occurred in the morning and was observed by those flying over southern Urals planes, and could well have been recorded by American spy satellites.

Many domestic experts put forward convincing arguments refuting the American version. First, in the 1980s, fully automated systems were rare, even in the United States. Secondly, after the illegal acquisition of imported technology, its installation at such an important strategic facility without thorough inspection and testing was impossible.

Confused

Doctor of Technical Sciences and explosives expert Vladimir Zakhmatov categorically denies not only the fact of an explosion on a gas pipeline in 1982, but also the possibility of sabotage. He notes that the explosions, of course, different times occurred, but they were explained by the difficult conditions for laying pipes in marshy areas. According to Zakhmatov, there were plenty of such accidents in both the USA and Canada.

Many experts say that the facts cited by Thomas Reed are more reminiscent of the events of 1989, when the Western Siberia-Urals-Volga region gas pipeline exploded in Bashkiria. Then, according to official data, 575 people died: all of them were on trains passing at that moment in the gas release zone. The commission found that the leak was possible due to damage caused to the gas pipe by an excavator bucket four years before the tragedy.

It is quite possible that the legend of CIA sabotage on a Soviet gas pipeline that spread in the West was part of an information war that had been waged in many foreign media for decades.

As for Vetrov, he was convicted in 1982 by Soviet law enforcement agencies for the premeditated murder of a KGB officer and sent to serve his sentence in Irkutsk. He was later transferred to Lefortovo prison in Moscow, where, after being accused of treason in the form of espionage, he was executed.

On May 24, 1982, the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee approved the USSR Food Program for the period until 1990.

“What is the goal of the USSR Food Program, what is the time frame for its implementation?”
- The goal of the Food Program is to ensure a sustainable supply of all types of food to Soviet citizens and to increase consumption highly quality products nutrition. This can be done only by maximizing the intensification of production, primarily in the public sector of agriculture, and making fuller use of the capabilities of private farms. In the coming years, the production of all agricultural products will increase significantly. By 1990, production growth will ensure a significant increase in the consumption of meat and dairy products, vegetables and fruits, which will significantly improve the nutritional structure. So, for example, our meat consumption will increase to 70 kilograms per year per person, milk - to 330 - 340 liters.
In the documents of the May (1982) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which adopted the decision on the Food Program, planned targets for the production of certain types of food are considered as minimal. Therefore, it is necessary to make every effort to not only fulfill them, but also exceed them.
The food program covers the entire range of sectors of the food, processing, chemical and mechanical engineering industries. In terms of its scale, it is designed to ensure the progress of the entire national economy of the USSR.

“Is it true that the development of the Food Program was caused by the crisis in Soviet agriculture?”
- No, it's not true. For example: over three five-year plans (from 1965 to 1980), the average annual gross agricultural output increased 1.5 times, while the country's population increased only by 15 percent. As we can see, there is an accelerated growth of food stocks.
By the way, over the same fifteen years, agricultural production in the USA increased by 29 percent, in the EEC countries - by 31 percent (in the USSR - by 50 percent). Power structure Soviet people for recent years has already improved significantly. Let us recall that meat consumption in the country increased (per capita) from 41 kilograms in 1965 to 57 in 1980, milk from 251 to 305 liters, the same with vegetables and fruits, eggs, vegetable oil, fish. But the consumption of flour products and potatoes has decreased, which corresponds to medical recommendations in this regard.
In a word, no matter what coordinates the growth curve is drawn from, in any case it rises quite steeply, and this in no way agrees with the myth of the “crisis”.
However, a thorough analysis of the potential opportunities and reserves of agriculture showed that the USSR has a real chance to increase the production of the highest quality food products without “freezing” the monetary income of the population and, accordingly, consumer demand. Practical measures aimed at achieving this goal within a clearly defined time frame found their expression in the USSR Food Program, designed for the period until 1990.
And one more thing. If hundreds of millions of people on the planet are hungry today, and the number of people at risk of starvation exceeds a billion, then the very concept of “food difficulties” is inevitably associated with either hunger or malnutrition. When applied to the realities of the USSR, such associations are unlawful. We repeat: today in the USSR we're talking about not about “feeding” the people, but about increasing the level of consumption of the most valuable food products to optimal, scientifically based standards.
Outlining the prospects for the development of agriculture in the Food Program, the Soviet Union sets the goal of improving the nutritional structure of the people and doing this as quickly as possible.

In 1982, Moscow "Spartak" started in the UEFA Cup, and after a stunning victory in the 1/32 finals over the formidable London "Arsenal" from England with a total score of 8:4 (3:2 and 5:2), they advanced to the next round Dutch "Haarlem" from the city of the same name. Far from being an outstanding club without much success. It can only be noted that young Ruud Gullit played in his squad last season. But this future “star” of world football has already been attracted to one of the three “whales” of Dutch club football - Feyenoord from Rotterdam. And then came the day of the first match of the two-match confrontation at the Central Stadium named after V.I. Lenin in Luzhniki. On Wednesday, October 20, in Moscow there was big frost. A lot of snow fell the day before, which managed to become covered with an ice crust. But even in such completely non-football weather, 15 thousand true Spartak fans gathered at the sports arena in Luzhniki. They fervently supported their pets, and, as best they could, kept warm at sub-zero air temperatures. And how has this been done in Muscovy since time immemorial? Right. Vodka that the housekeeper made. The police were given instructions not to allow such outrage in the stands. Like, what might foreign guests think about us? Keen eyes The valiant cops looked out for violators of socialist legality among the crowd of fans, who for the sake of compactness were herded into one western stand, and tried to snatch them for explanatory conversations somewhere in the KPZ (pre-trial detention cell). To which the youth responded by bombarding people in uniform with snowballs. The law enforcement officers did not like this disgrace at all. Tension between fans and police grew by the minute.

A ticket to that fateful match.

Before the start of the game “Spartak” - “Haarlem”, team captains Oleg Romantsev and Piet Hoyg greet each other and exchange pennants.

The players on the field, and indeed no one in general, yet know what horror will soon begin at the exit from the stadium.

And at this time, the Spartak team attacked their rivals on the frosty field and tried to take the lead. After several lost opportunities swipe Edgar Hess's free kick reached his goal - 1:0. This score lasted until the last moments of the meeting. Three or four minutes before the end of the match, fans began to leave the stadium for the exits. For some reason, only one of them was open. Our valiant police drove people from all sectors there. There was an incredible crush. The fans inside couldn't even move. They were only carried along by the human stream, squeezing them more and more. And here Sergei Shvetsov scores the second winning goal. Many reached back to see how the Spartak team celebrated their success. People began to fall on the slippery stairs. Under the pressure of the crowd, other Spartak fans instantly attacked them. Many were simply flattened against the iron fence. One witness said that he saw with his own eyes how the father, in furious despair, tried to the last to push the oncoming crowd away from his little son, pressed against that ill-fated fence. So they were crushed together against the iron bars.

This horror did not happen for long, about five minutes. But in these three hundred-odd seconds, three hundred-odd Soviet citizens said goodbye to their lives. Of course, according to the official version, 67 people were killed. But ordinary people, the families of the victims claimed that the figure was more than three hundred crushed alive. The valiant policemen, sensing their direct guilt in the tragedy that happened in Luzhniki, began to get out as best they could. All the corpses were piled near the Lenin monument. When they learned from the documents of the dead that they were not Muscovites, they quickly wrote them down completely left reason death. And it turned out that the poor guests of the capital did not die at the stadium at all. You never know where you can say goodbye to life in the bustling capital? A citizen was walking along its streets, slipped, fell and did not come to his senses because he hit his head. An ice icicle could have fallen from the roof of a high-rise building and pierced a skull. And there are plenty of bandits and hooligans. So several dozen corpses can already be attributed to reasons other than death at the stadium. Relatives of the non-resident victims claim that their son asked for two rubles and fifty kopecks for a ticket and a ruble for travel? And where is the guarantee that their kinder went to a football game in such a frosty place, and not in one of the capital’s bars to hang out with his comrades, who then began to row with the local punks, for which they paid with their lives? No guarantee? So there you go!

After the final whistle. The Dutch are shocked by what they see.

And at this time, at one open exit from the stadium, such a terrifying picture was observed.

This is the staircase on which dozens, if not hundreds, of Spartak fans said goodbye to their lives.

Now, on every anniversary of “Black” Wednesday, fans lay fresh flowers and carnations on the stairs where Spartak fans died.

And at least in the place of that iron fence, against which living people were literally crushed, there is now another one. Still, every year on October 20, fresh flowers stick out there in memory of those who died untimely on that “black” Wednesday.

The victims were sent to hospitals, where they were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement about the post-match horror they suffered. No one was counting those who died as a result of injuries during the stampede at the central sports arena in Luzhniki. Rumors spread throughout Moscow. It was necessary to publish in the newspaper “Evening Moscow” that on October 20, 1982, after a football match at the large sports arena named after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, when spectators were leaving, as a result of a violation of the order of people’s movement, an accident occurred. There are casualties. An investigation into the circumstances of the emergency is underway. There is no word on the number of victims. After a prompt “investigation”, the “main culprit” of the tragedy in Luzhniki was quickly discovered - junior officer police Yuri Panchikhin. The families of the victims were not even given a proper burial for their sons, daughters and husbands. The coffins were loaded onto trucks and quickly taken to the cemetery, where there were many more people in gray identical suits than relatives and friends of the victims. The KGB officers were doing their job. They had an order to prevent information leakage from outside. We can say that they achieved their goal. The whole truth about the tragedy that occurred late in the evening of October 20, 1982, Soviet people I found out almost seven years later. Only at the beginning of April 1989, that is, at the very height of “perestroika” with its “glasnost” and “pluralism of opinions,” a large article by Mikulik and Toporov appeared on the pages of the all-Union newspaper “Soviet Sport” with a circulation of nine million. Black secret Luzhniki", which told about the tragedy that occurred on October 20, 1982 at the central stadium of the country.

32 years have passed since that Black Wednesday. But no one still knows the exact number of victims. One expert proves that on the night after the tragedy in the morgues, he personally observed 66 corpses brought from the Luzhniki stadium. He didn’t have time to go to another morgue. What, there were less than a hundred dead? We will never know this again. Although personally, on the evening of December 8, 1982, I heard the number of victims at the Spartak - Haarlem match from the Radio Liberty program. Just the Spartak team, after a 0-0 home draw in Tbilisi, had to play the return match of the 1/8 finals of the UEFA Cup with Valencia in Spain. The match was not broadcast on TV. Again, as in September, when Spartak played in London, our television crews were unable to agree with “theirs” on the broadcast price. “These are the damned imperialists. They should rake in all the “loot” with a shovel!” I thought then, when in the sports block of the “Vremya” program all fans were informed that instead of a television broadcast there would be a report on radio “Mayak”. Well, at least that's it. If we don’t see, we’ll hear – and my dad and I run to my brother’s and my room to set up the radio. And then they lay on the bed with their father and listened to how Spartak, with an equal game, lost to Valencia - 0:2 and flew out of the UEFA Cup. What a pity! Should I look for some good music to lift my spirits? And I went up to the radio, took hold of the tuning knob, the scale of which was illuminated by the dim light of a light bulb, and began to smoothly scroll it.

Through the creaking of interference and the noise of jammers, a quiet knock was heard, as if someone was asking you to spend the night with light blows on the door of the house. And now a voice, seemingly from the other world, reported that today Spartak Moscow lost in Valencia. I just waved my hand. “The voice of the enemy is also mine. I already know about this!” But it was further reported that in response to numerous questions from journalists to Soviet athletes regarding the victims of the Luzhniki tragedy, the latter denied it and tried to quickly get on the bus. They say that the football players were afraid of the KaGeBists, who always accompany delegations from the Union of any rank and are always nearby. That’s why our athletes did not want to talk about such a painful topic for the prestige of the entire country. When the commentator from the enemy voice announced the number of deaths on that black October Wednesday, more than three hundred people, I could not believe my ears. They're lying, of course. What will you take from those damned capitalists? They want to discredit the real Soviet reality by hook or by crook. Although, according to unofficial sources, the number of victims was exactly the same as was reported by enemy radio voices.

Yes, no one wanted to kill Spartak fans late in the evening of October 20, 1982. But people died! And precisely because the valiant policemen began to let everyone through only one exit.

But high-ranking police officers still continue to “sculpt a hunchback” and claim that the stampede began because, when leaving the stands in the aisle, some drunken man stumbled and fell at the feet of people, thus causing the beginning of the tragedy. Spartak fans, they say, have long been known for their unworthy behavior and all they did throughout the game was “warm up” with alcohol in the cold. Based on the current situation, valiant soviet police resolutely suppressed such actions of such unscrupulous “red-white” fans. “Why do we need to concentrate such a mass of people on one exit? - continued to speak “the truth and only the truth”, as in court, General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, probably retired, Nikolai Merikov, to the creators documentary film“Moscow night 1982” - No. Because everyone was frozen, they ran. Let's run, you know? This is the influx here. And there one stumbled in drunk and they fell on him!” If one of the main cops of that time stated twice in a row in one interview that the whole tragedy happened because of some unknown drunkard, it means that everything really happened like that! Why then did the young policeman Yuri Panchikhin suffer? Everything had to be pinned on a dead drunk. So no. They were afraid of the people's anger, and found a “scapegoat” among the living, and even among their colleagues. Of course, for the sake of a big idea and the peace of the people, and at the same time for the preservation of one’s soft ministerial chairs in high-ranking offices, one can sacrifice a simple pawn. We will always find a replacement for him. But we still need to look for good management. And once the culprits have been found, it means that there is no need to prove anything to anyone! The cop bosses reported to their leadership and calmly took a breath - it was over!

But the Spartak team, in order not to be swept past the UEFA Cup, in Haarlem had to prove that they could defeat the local team not only thanks to the Russian frost. The coach of the Dutch team complained about him, making the cold the main culprit for the away defeat of his players. Well then. He is not an innovator in such a statement. As soon as foreign “guests” experience a collapse in Russia in winter, the notorious Moroz Ivanovich immediately becomes the culprit for their failure. They gave Napoleon a kick in the ass for stopping right in Paris: “Well, I quickly ran so far to get warm, because I was very cold in that barbaric Russia!” Hitler disgraced himself near Moscow in the winter of 1941 and immediately: “General Frost stopped us!” It seems that there was no courage of the entire people who stood in the way of the brave Napoleonic fellows and the Nazi invaders. Now Haarlem coach Hans van Doorneveld became like the great conquerors and nodded to the cold at the first opportunity. No. “Spartak” simply had to win. And not only to put the opponent in his place, but also for the sake of the memory of the “white-red” fans who died two weeks ago in Luzhniki.

“I wish I hadn’t scored that goal!” - Sergei Shvetsov said in his hearts after the first confrontation against Haarlem in Moscow, when he learned about the tragedy in Luzhniki at the end of that meeting. When, after his strike in the first half of the away match against the Dutch club, the score became a draw - 1:1, Sergei would hardly have repeated such words. In the second half of the game, Spartak, through the efforts of Shavlo and Gavrilov, brought their advantage in class over the home team to a quite comfortable 3:1. “We dedicate this victory to you, our loyal fans,” the Spartak players said after the game. And since in Soviet times people have already learned to read between the lines of newspapers and look for in statements public people allegorical meaning, then everyone understood perfectly what the players meant. The Spartak players dedicated their victory over Haarlem not only to the living fans of their team, but also to those who passed away after the match in Luzhniki, on that “black” Wednesday, October 20, 1982. May they rest in peace.

Every year on October 20, survivors of that terrible tragedy gather near the monument to their fallen comrades and honor their memory. After all, they could very well find themselves in the place of those who left for another world.

Flowers near the monument to those killed on October 20, 1982 on that frosty evening in Luzhniki are placed by relatives of the victims, from wives and mothers to grandchildren.

No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten! Yes, football fans who passed away against their will will forever remain in the memory of their fellow fans, both peers and subsequent generations. Rest in peace!

P.S. Today, October 20, 2014, in Moscow, on the eve of the Champions League match CSKA - Manchester City, the temperature dropped sharply again and heavy snow began to fall. By Russian TV channels they say that such weather is typical at the end of November, but not like October. I hope that no one is going to step on the same rake twice, and the tragedy at Luzhniki that happened 32 years ago will never happen again.

Kostenko Alexander Alexandrovich.