yanayev held several political positions. he served during the rules of khrushchev, brezhnev, andropov and chernenko. with the help of mikhail gorbachev, yanayev was elected the first and only vice president of the soviet union. he later led the "gang of eight" to depose gorbachev. the coup ended after 3 days. yanayev was arrested. in 1994 he was pardoned by the state duma.