CRISIS IN THE KREMLIN : End of the Coup

Moscow: Cheering and waving flags, crowds celebrated the end of the coup outside the Russian Parliament. Departing soldiers rode atop tanks strewn with flowers.

Lithuania: Soviet Interior Ministry troops attempted to break through a barricade near the republic’s Parliament building in Vilnius and exchanged gunfire with Lithuanian security guards. At least one security guard and one Soviet soldier were reported wounded.

Latvia: Following Estonia’s lead, the republic declared immediate independence, making it the third and final Baltic republic to do so.

Estonia: More than 400,000 workers staged a two-hour general strike to support democratic forces.

Ukraine: Before departing the Crimea, Gorbachev met with four coup committee members--Defense Minister Dmitri T. Yazov, KGB chief Vladimir A. Kryuchkov, first deputy to the chairman of the Soviet Defense Council Oleg D. Baklanov and head of the Assn. of State Enterprises and Industrial Facilities, Alexander I. Tizyakov.

History of the Baltics

The Balkan states of Estonia and Latvia moved immediately for independence, and Soviet troops began withdrawing. In March, the two states and Lituania boycotted a Soviet vote on a new Union Treaty, which aimed to reshape the relationship between Moscow and the republics. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were seized by Soviet Union in July, 1940 following the Soviet-German pact of August, 1939.

* March 11, 1990. The three Balkan states begin their bid for independence when Lithuania’s parliament restored its right to sovereignty. Clashes with Soviet troops and an economic embargo followed.

* March 16, 1990. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev issued an ultimatum followed by an oil and gas embargo. After international appeals, the embargo was lifted.

* Jan. 10, 1991, Gorbachev demanded restoration of the Soviet constitution in Lithuania. A day later, Soviet troops intervened in Lithuania leading to 14 deaths.

* Feb. 9. In a move declared illegal by Gorbachev, more than 90% of Lithuanians voted for independence. Estonia voted to take a more prudent road to independence, without breaking all its ties to Moscow.

* Mar. 4 referendum 78% of the population voted for Estonian independence.

* Aug. 20. Estonia’s parliament adopted a resolution affirming “the national independence of the Republic of Estonia.”

* May 4. Latvia declared independence.