At the first Committee meeting following Stalin's death, Beria sidelines Khrushchev by putting him in charge of Stalin's funeral and suggesting many of the liberal reforms which Khrushchev had planned to introduce. Stalin's body is laid in state in the Hall of Columns, while many political prisoners are released and restrictions on the Russian Orthodox Church are loosened, earning Beria more popular support. Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov arrives and demands to know why the Soviet Army troops have been confined to barracks within Moscow.