Mikhail Gorbachev brought in his ally Hurenko in to replace
Vladimir Ivashko as
First Secretary of the
Ukrainian Communist Party on 23 June 1990. He resigned his position as First Secretary on 30 August 1991, when the failure of the
August coup in Moscow, the activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine were banned. Then he served as the
member of
Verkhovna Rada. Hurenko retired and died on 14 April 2013, at the age of 76 after suffering from cancer. ==References==