Armoured cars and tanks surrounded the most important government buildings in Moscow on 19 August 1991. President Mikhail Gorbachev had been dismissed by Genadi Genayev, vice president of the Soviet Union. A state of national emergency was proclaimed, meetings and gatherings were forbidden. Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia, disapproved of these actions and summoned the inhabitants of Moscow to gather around the Parliament building. The Democratic Union distributed a handout directed to the soldiers:
"Stop! Think! Don't shoot!
It is not terrible to be killed, for the soul is immortal! It is terrible to kill, as it violates Gods most imporant commandment! Halt! Do not condemn yourself to eternal suffering. The two of us can come to an agreement."