July Thunderstorms: Release 1991

Directed by Anatolii Karas

An accident at the Pochenkov’s Mine in February 1990 resulted in the death of 13 miners. Since the summer protests, the real situation on the ground in the mines had not changed, leading to a second wave of miners’ protests in 1990–1991. This time, the miners’ slogans included political demands, such as the decommunization of power and the independence of Ukraine. Representatives of the miners met with Communist officials, including the last First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Stanislav Hurenko, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Nikolai Ryzhkov. The August coup and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union were met by the Donbas miners in strike committees.