At the time of the August coup by hardline communists, the staff and students of Moscow University formed the Russian Democratic Alliance, some of whom spent three nights on vigil in Red Square, shattering the idea that Soviet intellectuals do not care about the political future of their country.
去年八月俄共保守分子展開奪權政變，莫大師生組成的「俄羅斯民主聯盟」，是少數在紅場前抗議且連續枯坐三夜的師生，打破蘇聯「知識分子不關心國家政治前途」的說法。