The Brezhnev era was a golden age for Uzbekistan. Brezhnev not only had the kindest feelings to Sharaf Rashidov personally, but he did love Uzbekistan, visited the republic many times, held memorable meetings with the authorities and party members, and took part in solving fundamental issues related to its development. For the last time, he visited Uzbekistan in the spring of 1982. It was then that an accident occurred that turned out to be fatal for Leonid Ilyich in a sense.
BREZHNEV ARRIVED IN TASHKENT FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE AWARDING OF THE UZBEK SSR THE THIRD ORDER OF LENIN "FOR EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND IN CONNECTION WITH THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLIC."
On 23 March 1982, according to the programme, Brezhnev was to visit several facilities, including an aircraft factory. In the morning he met with the local authorities, and it was decided that the programme was very busy and visiting the plant would be too hard for Leonid Ilyich. It was agreed to cancel the visit, and the guards were removed and transferred to another facility. According to Brezhnev's personal bodyguard Medvedev, they managed with all scheduled visits fairly quickly.
ON HIS WAY BACK TO THE RESIDENCE, BREZHNEV ADDRESSED THE FIRST SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF UZBEKISTAN SHARAF RASHIDOV: "WE STILL HAVE SOME TIME BEFORE LUNCH. WE PROMISED TO VISIT THE FACTORY. THE PEOPLE WERE PREPARING FOR THE MEETING, THEY HAVE GATHERED AND ARE WAITING FOR US. IT'S NO GOOD... THERE MAY BE QUESTIONS. THERE MAY BE GOSSIPS. WE MUST GO!" BREZHNEV 'S SECURITY CHIEF, GENERAL RYABENKO, INTERVENED: "LEONID ILYICH, YOU CAN'T GO TO THE FACTORY. THE SECURITY IS REMOVED. IT TAKES TIME TO GET IT BACK."
BREZHNEV, HOWEVER, STOOD HIS GROUND. UPON ARRIVING AT THE PLANT AND STEPPING OUT OF THE CAR, BREZHNEV, RASHIDOV, AND THEIR BODYGUARDS MOVED TOWARD THE ASSEMBLY WORKSHOP. AS THEY PASSED UNDER THE WING OF AN ALMOST COMPLETED AIRCRAFT, THE WORKERS ON THE SURROUNDING SCAFFOLDING ALSO BEGAN TO SHIFT. LEONID ILYICH HAD NEARLY CLEARED THE UNDERSIDE OF THE PLANE WHEN SUDDENLY THE SCAFFOLDING BEAMS GAVE WAY, AND A MASSIVE WOODEN PLATFORM — STRETCHING THE FULL LENGTH OF THE AIRCRAFT AND NEARLY FOUR METERS ACROSS — COLLAPSED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THE MOVING WORKERS.
The people flowed uncontrollably down the slanting platform towards the delegation. Brezhnev and Rashidov and their escort were covered by the collapsed platform and the workers that rolled off it. The heavy platform, fortunately, did not manage to crush anyone. The bodyguards help the General Secretary onto his feet with great difficulty. He refused to go to the hospital, so the bodyguards put him in the back seat of a government ZIL and drove to the residence.
After Tashkent, Leonid Ilyich began to fade rapidly, and on 10 November of the same year, 1982, he passed away. On 12 November, following Konstantin Chernenko's proposal, Andropov was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. A new stage in Soviet history began, which, although short-time, was full of tragic events concerning Sharaf Rashidov, among many others.
