-- In Moscow, Soviet television reports that Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov, a member of the emergency committee, has resigned because of poor health. In a dramatic contrast to the events of Monday , August 19 , in Moscow , the hard - liner who took power were forced to capitulate yesterday by protesters and a determined Russian Parliament led by Boris ##ov , the president of Russia . He seemed to tower over the hard - liner during the standoff and now emerges easily as the most powerful man in the nation . Mikhail Gorbachev returned to Moscow last night from the Crimea where he was under house arrest during the coup . His future role in bringing about stability is uncertain given public opinion that Gorbachev himself created the conditions for the coup .
In a dramatic contrast to the events of Monday , August 19 , in Moscow , the hard - liner who took power were forced to capitulate yesterday by protesters and a determined Russian Parliament led by Boris ##ov , the president of Russia . He seemed to tower over the hard - liner during the standoff and now emerges easily as the most powerful man in the nation . Mikhail Gorbachev returned to Moscow last night from the Crimea where he was under house arrest during the coup . His future role in bringing about stability is uncertain given public opinion that Gorbachev himself created the conditions for the coup .