In the colony, Alexander Pushkarsky was regarded with respect by the inmates, almost like the "godfather" of the trade mafia in Kyiv.
“Here I am in the death row cell of the Lukyanivska pre-trial detention center. Various thoughts about the past keep creeping into my mind. If I had remained silent, the investigation would have taken an entirely different course. Many crimes would have remained unsolved. The silence of other trade directors cost them 10 years in prison. Is it really my fault that I chose the wrong defense strategy? Why is there such a harsh punishment for telling the truth? The thought that I could have avoided not only the death penalty but also a relatively severe punishment torments me, weighs on my consciousness, and grants me no peace for even a second. A day here drags on like a year. This is murder! Even the state prosecutor found a mitigating circumstance in my case – my impeccable past activities…”
This is a fragment from a 34-page statement to the prosecutor’s office by Alexander Pushkarsky, dated June 8, 1984. It was barely a month since the Kyiv City Court had issued its verdict: death penalty – execution by firing squad. This occurred on May 22.
In the archive, I flip through pages of explanations, accusations, and interrogation protocols… It becomes evident how people were broken in captivity, providing false testimonies, confessing to all crimes, and pleading for clemency, even though initially, they did not admit guilt.
3 This person is linked to 34 major criminal cases related to investigations and trials from 1983 to 1984. This was a period of total destruction of Kyiv's trade sector. More than 250 officials from trade and administrative management were convicted for bribery, embezzlement of socialist property, and deceiving consumers. Thus, the communist regime, under its new Kremlin chief, KGB officer Andropov, conducted a showy fight against crime.
It was only after the court issued the “execution” verdict that Pushkarsky would write in his cassation appeal:
“I realized that sooner or later hundreds, if not thousands, of trade workers could find themselves in my position, as long as the ‘authorities’ took this matter seriously.”
And they were indeed serious – the system of exemplary cleansing of Kyiv was in full swing. Many innocent people suffered. Although it was not without the capture of “sticky-fingered” trade workers.
In the case materials, there are such details: Pushkarsky pointed to 35 heads of stores under “Kyivavtomattorg” who handed him money. However, 24 of them completely denied this, 12 only acknowledged such facts after some time, and 14 accused defendants labeled such testimonies as false both during the investigation and in court.
4 It was important for me to understand, not from official documents, such as characteristics, protocols, interrogations, and “heartfelt confessions,” what a person, namely Alexander Pushkarsky, felt after a colossal prison ordeal, and how he evaluated those “Andropov’s” trials.
On December 5, 1984, the Chair of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR, Valentina Shevchenko, signed a decree on the pardon of Pushkarsky – the death penalty was commuted to 15 years of imprisonment. He did not serve the full term in the colony, being released 3 years, 6 months, and 29 days early. The Bohun District Court of Zhytomyr granted him early conditional release.
Alexander Mykhailovych was initially reluctant to talk with me. However, my persistence eventually prevailed. We agreed to meet in an apartment located almost in the center of Kyiv. (Pushkarsky would later say that this was his brother’s home – a typical five-story “Khrushchovka” of the capital.)
…A short man opened the door for me. He smiled warmly. Yes, this was Pushkarsky, a former successful director of a large capital trading enterprise that included 61 stores, 64 kiosks, 1703 water vending machines, 149 beer vending machines, and 4784 vending machines at enterprises. Over a thousand people worked here.
When Pushkarsky took charge of “Kyivavtomattorg,” the organization was barely surviving – business was going poorly, as it was established based on the worst stores. However, he managed to lead the enterprise to become a leader. In 1982, the number of vending machines in Kyiv reached 8,500 – the highest percentage of technology per capita in the USSR. That year's turnover reached 28 million rubles. And profits grew from 240 thousand to over a million rubles. Pushkarsky's leadership was even reported in the all-Union press; he was awarded three medals and received a letter of thanks from the organizing committee of the 1980 Olympics.
But some time would pass, and Pushkarsky would write a “heartfelt confession” in the pre-trial detention center:
“My civic duty is to expose the festering sores of the existing shameful relations… in the trade system.”
Then came another confession:
“I accumulated far more money than I could spend. They burned my hands, preventing me from living peacefully, but leaving trade was not even the slightest possibility. And where would I go, if my specialty was trade?” “There was so much money that I didn't know where to put it…”
What a deep whirlpool ensnared this person! And who is to blame? It’s not just the totalitarian system.
The first question was direct and perhaps not entirely pleasant for Alexander Mykhailovych.
Let’s recall the beginning when they started to dismantle Kyiv's trade. Some accused store managers claimed that “Pushkarsky snitched on his team, i.e., honest workers.” One of the store managers even asked Judge Sitnova to issue a “death” verdict against you. How do you evaluate all this through the years?
In 1988, while serving my sentence in the Urals, in “IvdelLag,” I learned the truth about “Kyivavtomattorg.” The case was ordered, just like the high-profile trials prompted by the arbitrariness of the totalitarian regime. Remember the “doctors' case” from the Stalinist period? If the doctors were fortunate due to Stalin’s death, as many of them did not perish in camps, we, the trade workers, were not fortunate with the death of the Soviet leader Brezhnev: the new power led by KGB officer Andropov began to “cleanse” our ranks. In Ukraine, a special cleansing touched the trade sector. Notable people told me that during Shcherbytsky's (the first secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine) trip to Moscow, he was hinted that it was time to seriously address the eradication of crime. In Kyiv, they listened to this “advice,” but decided to do it with minimal bloodshed – not touching the big bosses. The process was directed by the bigwigs from the Central Committee of the Communist Party. I know that after interrogations, some investigators hurried directly to the Central Committee building for “advice.” As for my former subordinate, who demanded my execution, and Judge Sitnova, I assure you, I hold no malice against them. For they are victims of the system, just like I am. Although I am accused of having “sent everyone to prison.” But let’s look at this matter from another angle. During the investigation and trial, I wanted as few people from “Kyivavtomattorg” to suffer as possible. But I was deceived.
5 There are quite mysterious moments in the case materials. For a long time, unknown individuals monitored you as the director of “Kyivavtomattorg.” They covertly recorded every step you took on film. Later, they demanded large sums of money from you in exchange for these photographs. And you accepted their demands. Why? What’s the story?
Back in 1981, I personally witnessed the emergence of racketeering in Ukraine. I reported extortion and blackmail in court. However, Judge Sitnova replied that it was irrelevant to the case.
From the interrogation protocol of Alexander Pushkarsky:
“On the eve of the October holidays, a woman came to my office and brought a letter. It contained 17 photographs. And a note: Congratulations on the holidays! If you like the gift, you can buy it. Friends.” Two of the photos captured several store managers handing me money. In other images, we were seen relaxing outdoors with friends. I understood that if these photographs were made public, I would lose everything: my job, my party membership… I burned this compromising material. On November 6, I received a phone call, and I heard: “Ten ‘grand’ for a photo.” I gave them 30