"The betrayal of the elites" as a social phenomenon in discussions about the collapse of the Soviet Union

The article deals with the social phenomenon of betrayal (tergiversation) as the characteristic feature of the power elite’s behavior during the perestroika in the USSR. The author suggests a variant of classification of different types of social betrayal and analyzes the main viewpoints of the soviet elite’s representatives, who justified the fact of betrayal at the highest level of the party and political elites of the USSR during the perestroika.