With a knife on the president: how Major Ivan Kislov prepared an assassination attempt on Boris Yeltsin

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

History knows many cases of assassination attempts on top officials of states. Among them were both "successful" and those who discovered and prevented in time. However, the attempted assassination attempt in 1993 on the then President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin can rightfully be considered one of the strangest and even ridiculous in history: after all, they tried to kill the head of state with a penknife.

Quite an ordinary army officer

The man who tried to kill Yeltsin with a penknife was Major of the Russian Armed Forces Ivan Vasilyevich Kislov. Little is known about his biography. The future frustrated assassin of the president was born in 1959. After graduating from school and serving in the army, Kislov decided to link his life with the Armed Forces. Until 1992, Ivan Kislov, who by that time had already started a family and had a son, served in Khabarovsk.

Apparently, the military profession was not a burden for Kislov. By the age of 33, he managed to rise to the rank of major. Ivan Kislov carried out his military service in the installation department of the military construction troops of the Far Eastern Military District. There, the major served as deputy head of one of the departments. Quite an ordinary soldier in a "warm place" with good prospects for a future career. However, by the end of 1992, something extraordinary had happened to Kislov.

Motives and choice of weapons

The whole story with the assassination attempt began in Khabarovsk on December 24, 1992. It was on this day that Major Ivan Kislov suddenly disappeared. They did not hear anything about him either at the duty station or his relatives. Kislov simply disappeared. In fact, the major got ready and went to Moscow. Naturally, without saying a word to anyone about it. After all, Kislov's mission was by no means an everyday one - to kill the President of the Russian Federation.

As for the motives, the major revealed them already during the first interrogation after the arrest. Kislov told investigators that he simply had to take revenge on Boris Yeltsin for the collapsed Soviet Union and the country's ruined economy. For the "execution of the sentence" Kislov prepared 2 homemade explosive bags and a penknife. With such an "arsenal" the major went to Moscow.

Preparing for the assassination attempt

Ivan Kislov arrived in the capital of Russia on the first day of the new, 1993. Immediately upon arrival, the major decided to check his "arsenal" and was unpleasantly surprised. Both explosives were completely damp and unusable. This only slightly confused the "terrorist". The very next minute Kislov threw away the damp explosives and firmly decided to kill Yeltsin with a knife.

For the next several days, the major, with a penknife in his coat pocket, walked the streets of Moscow and asked passers-by if they knew where the president lived. Finally, someone told Kislov about the Old Square. Indeed, Boris Yeltsin and his family lived there for some time. Over the next several weeks, the major closely monitored the movement of government and presidential motorcade.

With a knife on the president

For several days Ivan Kislov, with a penknife in his pocket, watched Boris Yeltsin at the entrance of his house. However, the president, as luck would have it, did not appear. By the way, at that time Yeltsin was not only in Moscow, but also in Russia - the head of state was in India on an official visit. Not knowing this and tired of waiting at the entrance, the terrorist major went to the presidential administration building. There Kislov made his way into the attic and began to wait for his "target."

Soon enough, the major was discovered by one of the security personnel. When asked who he was and what he was doing here, Kislov "introduced himself" as a janitor. The guard, not believing him, demanded documents. After examining the military ID, the Security Service officer detained Kislov. Later, the major, as a deserter, was transferred to the Central Directorate of the Military Prosecutor's Office.

Terrorist diagnosis - schizophrenia

At the very first interrogation in the prosecutor's office, Major Ivan Kislov confessed to the investigator that he had arrived in Moscow with the aim of assassinating President Yeltsin. And the fact that he was secretly preparing for this crime in advance. The deserter also told about the damp explosives that he had to throw away. And about the penknife, which was supposed to be the instrument of the assassination of the Russian leader. By the way, regarding the explosives that Kislov allegedly brought with him and then threw them away, the investigation did not confirm this information. The explosion packages were simply not found.

The very fact that a career military man seriously stated that he wanted to kill the president with a penknife (which the examination did not even recognize with a cold weapon) prompted investigators to think that Kislov might suffer from some kind of mental illness. On this occasion, the military prosecutors of Moscow made an inquiry at the place of service of the major deserter. A few days later, from the military prosecutor's office of the Far Eastern VO came confirmation of the guesses of the capital's investigators: Ivan Kislov may suffer from a hereditary mental illness.

Indeed, after a medical examination at the Center. Serbian experts diagnosed the major deserter with schizophrenia. The military court, having received such a conclusion, sent Ivan Kislov for compulsory treatment at the place of service and registration - in a special psychiatric hospital in Khabarovsk with intensive monitoring of patients.

Instead of an epilogue

The further fate of Ivan Kislov, a terrorist who wanted to stab the President of Russia with a penknife, is unknown. Most likely, he left a psychiatric clinic a long time ago and may still live in his native Khabarovsk. As for the disease, experts believe that the doctors would hardly have been able to completely cure it at Kislov's. The most they could achieve was long-term remission. And if now Ivan Kislov is still alive and at large, then he is definitely on a psychiatric account and undergoes regular examinations at the dispensary.

As for the question: “How could a mentally ill person be accepted to serve in the army?”, Then the doctors also have an explanation. Hereditary schizophrenia may not manifest itself in a patient for a long time. The "impetus" for the sharp development of this disease can serve as any emotional shock. In the early 1990s, the collapse of the USSR could well become such a catalyst for Ivan Kislov's illness. After all, it was for this that the major wanted to stab the then President of Russia Boris Yeltsin with a penknife.