State Archives after 1991, Ilyin told Andropov that his motivation to assassinate Brezhnev was to have him replaced with his Second Secretary and Party Ideologue Mikhail Suslov (whom Ilyin called "the most outstanding person in the party at the moment"). Whether this was true or if he was simply trying to provoke infighting within the Politburo remains unknown. He was facing the death penalty, but after an investigation, he was considered insane and was placed in a mental hospital in solitary confinement for 20 years. In 1990, he was set free, following a Supreme Court ruling. See also Attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev References 1947 births Living people Failed assassins Soviet people Soviet Army officers Soviet assassins Deserters Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union