Vladimir Kryuchkov, the former KGB chief who spearheaded a failed coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, has died, officials said Sunday. He was 83. Kryuchkov died Friday in Moscow of an unspecified illness, a spokesman for the Federal Security Service said. Kryuchkov worked with future Soviet leader Yury Andropov in the Hungarian Embassy in the 1950s. When Andropov became head of the KGB in 1967, he helped Kryuchkov rise through the ranks. Kryuchkov in 1974 was appointed chief of the KGB's First Main Directorate in charge of spying abroad. In 1988, Gorbachev appointed Kryuchkov as KGB chief. In August 1991, Kryuchkov joined other hard-line Communists who ousted Gorbachev and declared a state of emergency. The coup collapsed after three days, and Kryuchkov and other coup plotters were jailed but freed on an amnesty in early 1994.
Last month, Kryuchkov warned of "big trouble" if a turf battle between security agencies continues to fester. He and other KGB veterans called on the feuding forces to unite behind President Vladimir Putin. Kryuchkov's funeral is planned for Tuesday.