Russia's Black August Syndrome

April is the cruelest month according to T.S. Eliot, but for modern Russia it is undoubtedly August, a time of catastrophe, crisis and political upheaval. For almost two decades, Russians have learned to expect the worst from the eighth month of the year, with 1991 seeing a coup and 2008 war in the Caucasus. Last year saw large swathes of Russia hit by wildfires, with the capital shrouded in a toxic smog. The complete litany of August chaos and woe reads like this: August 19, 1991 - Communist hardliners disgruntled at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms launch an unsuccessful coup attempt that leads to the break-up of the Soviet Union. August 14, 1992 - The Georgian-Abkhazian war begins, with the conflict involving large numbers of Russian citizens. Early August 1994 - The notorious MMM pyramid scheme collapses, leaving millions of Russians without their life-savings, a sum believed to be up to $1.5 billion. August 24, 1995 - The Russian interbank credit system breaks down, leading to the ruin of 28 Russian banks. August 29, 1996 - A Russian Tupolev TU-154 crashes over the Arctic Ocean, all 141 people on board die. August 17, 1998 - The Russian government defaults on its foreign and domestic debt and the ruble loses two-thirds of its value in the next four weeks. August 7, 1999 - Chechen fighters invade Dagestan, signaling the start of the second Chechen war. August 8, 2000 - A bomb explodes in a pedestrian underpass in central Moscow killing 13 people. August 12, 2000 - The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea; all 118 sailors on board die. August 8, 2002 - Floods and strong winds kill 59 people in the Russian Black sea city of Novorossiisk. August 19, 2002 - A military Mi-26 helicopter is shot down over Chechnya, 126 servicemen die. August 1, 2003 - A suicide bomber attacks a military hospital in the Russian North Ossetia town of Mozdok, killing over 50. August 24, 2004 - Two Russian passenger planes are blown up by Chechen terrorists, over 90 people die. August 31, 2004 - A Chechen suicide bomber blows herself up outside Moscow's Rizhskaya metro station, killing 10. The next day, September 1, sees the start of the Beslan school siege. August 21, 2006 - Nationalists explode a bomb at Moscow's Cherkizovo market, killing 13. August 22, 2006 - A Russian Tu-154 plane crashes in Ukraine, 170 lose their lives. August 8-12, 2008 - Russia and Georgia fight a war over South Ossetia after Georgian forces attempt to bring the republic back under central control. August 17, 2009 – An accident at East Siberia’s Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam kills 74. August 2010 - Abnormal heat and wildfires kill 50 people and leave some 2,000 homeless across the central part of European Russia. Moscow is covered in a toxic smog for days on end, with overall pollution estimated at 16 times greater than usual.