MOSCOW (AP) — Russia marked the 10th anniversary of the failed coup that fatally wounded the Soviet Union with more reflection than celebration Sunday, with demonstrators gathering at the site where they faced down Communist hard-liners to recount those dizzying days and their wrenching legacy.

Under a hot sun, about 100 demonstrators near the White House government building distributed leaflets and gave speeches urging adherence to democratic ideals that many feel have been compromised in the past decade of chaotic and often corrupt reforms. The small crowd was far outnumbered by police and journalists.

The turnout on a stone bridge behind the riverside building sharply contrasted with the tens of thousands of people who streamed there in August 1991 to resist the attempt to oust reformist Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Exhilarated and a little frightened, they watched Boris Yeltsin climb atop a tank to denounce the putsch while Gorbachev was under house arrest at his summer house.

http://usatoday.com/news/world/2001/08/19/russia-anniversary.htm