People of the Revolution and the USSR
- Lagle Parek Lagle Parek The dissident architect who walked out of a Soviet prison camp and opened Estonia's political road to independence
- Lembit Annus Lembit Annus An Estonian communist leader who chose to preserve the Soviet Union
- Nikolai Nikolayevich Gubenko Николай Николаевич Губенко The last Soviet culture minister
- Anatolijs Gorbunovs Anatolijs Gorbunovs The Communist Party secretary who led Latvia's Supreme Council through the restoration of independence
- Alexander Mitrofanovich Obolensky Александр Митрофанович Оболенский The engineer who became the first person in Soviet history to run against a sitting General Secretary
- Askar Akayevich Akayev Аскар Акаевич Акаев Scientist-president who moved from reformist promise to prolonged rule
- Enn-Arno Augustovich Sillari Enn-Arno Augustovich Sillari The last Soviet-aligned communist leader of Estonia amid a party split
- Givi Grigorievich Gumbaridze Гиви Григорьевич Гумбаридзе A Georgian party official at the edge of Soviet collapse
- Jahangir Movsum oglu Muslimzade Cahangir Mövsüm oğlu Müslümzadə The Sumgait party boss handed a flag and photographed at the head of the mob
- Mikhail Semyonovich Surkov Михаил Семёнович Сурков A party cadre who moved from army organization to the late Soviet Politburo
- Dzhumgalbek Beksultan uulu Amanbayev Жумгалбек Бексултан уулу Аманбаев A Kyrgyz party leader at the Soviet Union's end
- Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy Александр Владимирович Руцкой Russia's only vice president: stood with Yeltsin against the coup, then fell to Yeltsin's tanks
- Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar Architect of mass mobilization and independence politics
- Viktor Imantovich Alksnis Виктор Имантович Алкснис Leader of the Soyuz faction who nearly turned a parliamentary session into a constitutional coup
- Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky Григорий Алексеевич Явлинский Architect of the 500 Days Program: perestroika economist who drafted a rapid transition from planned economy to market
- Dainis Īvāns Dainis Īvāns The journalist who saved the Daugava River and led the Latvian Popular Front
- Etibar Salidar oglu Mammadov Etibar Səlidar oğlu Məmmədov Deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani Popular Front who warned Primakov there would be resistance