Russian embassies in emergency situations (as exemplified by the 1992 anti-government mutiny in Angola)

Abstract

The article focuses on a captivating period in the history of Russia-Angola relations when UNITA, a military and political group headed by Jonas Savimbi, mounted a military mutiny in Luanda, the country’s capital, and other major cities to seize power by force in anticipation of its defeat in the 1992 general election. It is during these troubled days that the government troops from the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) demonstrated their courage, military excellence and political judgement. The same applied to the special forces and the country’s political leadership who had all benefi ted from many years of training by Soviet and later Russian military instructors and political mentors. The article presents the views of its authors who were directly involved in these events, finding themselves at the centre of the standoff between UNITA and the ruling MPLA-Labour Party. All the agencies and services in the Embassy coordinated their actions on the Embassy premises, as well as across various parts of the city. By doing so, they succeeded in providing the Ambassador with updates from various sources, enabling the mission to report the developments in the country to Moscow in real time. The article stresses the need to ensure that staff members at Russian missions abroad are ready to face challenging and non-standard circumstances that may occur during government coups or in other extraordinary situations in a given country.