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Anniversary of 1991 Moscow coup ends on low note

MOSCOW: Celebrations marking the fourth anniversary of an abortive Soviet hardline coup, whose collapse was hailed as a triumph of democracy, ended on a low note on Monday marked by public disillusionment and indifference.

The chief of President Boris Yeltsin's administration was the only senior Russian state official at Moscow's Vagankovskoye cemetery to lay a wreath on the graves of three young men who died during the ill-fated three-day putsch in August 1991.

"The president is paying a great deal of attention to the event," Sergei Filatov told reporters after the five-minute ceremony attended by no more than 50 people.

"But I am puzzled by the fact there is no one here from the government or Moscow mayor's office."

Spokesmen for both bodies said there were no plans to send representatives to the wreath-laying but declined to give an explanation.-Reuter