Oleg Shenin

Oleg Semyonovich Shenin (; 2 July 1937 – 28 May 2009) was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Shenin), which should not be confused with the larger UCP-CPSU. Shenin was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; he was also a member of the Politburo and Secretariat from 1990 to 1991. During the Soviet coup attempt of 1991, he was a member of the group of CPSU CC members who tried to regain control of the country in order to re-establish the Soviet Union. On 23 August he was jailed for his involvement in the events. In October 1992, for health reasons, he was released with a change in the preventive measure to a recognizance not to leave. He was given amnesty in 1994. Shenin was the founding Chairman of the Union of Communist Parties - Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) from 1993, until he broke away from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) in 2001, after its leader Gennady Zyuganov refused to back the creation of a united Communist Party of Russia and Belarus. Zyuganov then replaced Shenin as chairman of the Council of the Union of Communist Parties-CPSU. In September 1997, he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.