Komar

"My world was destroyed when Dmitry died. ," said Komar's mother Lyubov, 63, in an interview at her home in a Moscow suburb.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

A US foundation still sponsors exchange students from Russia in memory of Komar, Krichevsky and Usov, she said.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

One of them, Komar, 22, who had served as a paratrooper in Afghanistan, tried to climb through a hatch and was shot from inside.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

Dmitry Komar, Ilya Krichevsky and Vladimir Usov died 20 years ago defending the White House – the Russian parliament – against troops sent by the GKChP, communist hardliners who had launched a putsch in an attempt to derail Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

Yet two decades on, as Russia marks the anniversary of the standoff, Komar, Krichevsky and Usov are all but forgotten.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

Seeing Komar's predicament, Veretilny rushed forward and attempted to drag him free, but he was shot in the shoulder and retreated.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

In much the same fashion that Komar and Melamid lampooned the Brezhnev regime in the Soviet Union see part 2, the three Spaniards respond to the political and social repression of the state with courageous anti-Franco irony.

G. Roger Denson: You Say You Want a Revolution. Well You Know, Art Can Cure You of That G. Roger Denson 2011

In much the same fashion that Komar and Melamid lampooned the Brezhnev regime in the Soviet Union see part 2, the three Spaniards respond to the political and social repression of the state with courageous anti-Franco irony.

G. Roger Denson: You Say You Want a Revolution. Well You Know, Art Can Cure You of That G. Roger Denson 2011

Around the same time, a stray bullet killed Usov, 37, an economist who had also approached to help Komar.

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011

Lyubov Komar says she does not know if politicians or officials will come to mourn her son on the anniversary: "I've learned not to expect anything."

Calls for recognition of 1991 Soviet coup martyrs on 30th anniversary 2011