Konstantin Chernenko

Despite harsh rhetoric and the Olympic boycott, Chernenko's brief rule also saw attempts to resume dialogue with the West and reopen arms discussions, preparing the ground for a wider resumption of negotiations in 1985.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Chernenko almost completely disappeared from public life for nearly two months. After denials and contradictory explanations, television showed him looking extremely weak while voting in a room unlike his usual polling station, weeks before his death.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Institutional responsibility

Following Andropov's death, the apparatus selected Chernenko, a representative of Brezhnev's old guard who was already seriously ill. His appointment intensified criticism of gerontocracy and the system's inability to manage a generational transition.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The USSR announced that it would not participate in the Los Angeles Games, citing security concerns and an anti-Soviet campaign. Thirteen other countries subsequently joined the boycott, extending the politicisation of the Olympics following the Western boycott of Moscow in 1980.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

As Sakharov went on hunger strike to secure medical treatment abroad for Elena Bonner, authorities cut off communications, hospitalised Sakharov and initiated proceedings against Bonner, who was subsequently forced to remain in Gorky.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Person targeted by the proceedings

Elena Bonner

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

As head of the General Department, Chernenko controlled an important part of document circulation, agendas and the Central Committee's administrative work. He became one of Brezhnev's closest associates.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

At a highly restricted meeting in Brezhnev's office, Chernenko wrote by hand the brief document that became the resolution authorising the large-scale deployment of Soviet troops to Afghanistan.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Chernenko headed the Party's propaganda and agitation department in Soviet Moldova, where he became close to Leonid Brezhnev. This patronage relationship largely determined his subsequent rise in Moscow.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated