Moscow believed that Nikolaev was the right person to carry out the planned plan. The main advantage of this scenario was that Nikolaev had taken the initiative to conceive the idea of assassination. He would never have dreamed that from a certain point on his actions would be indirectly manipulated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The instructions that Zaporozhets was given boiled down to one thing: to try to shift the target of Nikolaev’s assassination from some member of the Supervisory Commission who had expelled him from the Party to Kirov. During Zaporozhev’s absence, Nikolaev’s intentions had become a frightening madness; he believed that his actions would be the signal for a call to arms against the odious bureaucracy of the party. Nikolaev’s “friends” warned Zaporozhets that Nikolaev was trying to get a pistol.
Hearing this, Zaporozhets hypocritically told the “friend” that he was afraid that Nikolaev was actually going to shoot at a member of the supervisory committee, since such cadres apparently do not have personal guards. The intention of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was to arrest the murderer on the spot as he was attempting an assassination attempt. This could be done without bloodshed only if Nikolaev gave up the idea of killing some insignificant minor official and plotted to kill another official like Kirov, who would be doomed to failure because Kirov was protected by guards around the clock. As soon as Nikolaev entered the Smolny Palace with a pistol in his pocket, he was immediately arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel who were waiting for him. So, now the “friend” was asked to do only one thing: to convince Nikolaev that killing an NKVD officer would have little political impact, while shooting a Politburo member would be a national sensation.
The “friend” was convinced, and after his efforts, Leonid Nikolaev was hooked. The idea of assassinating Kirov arose. Now there was only one obstacle to the realization of the planned plan – a pistol was missing. Nikolaev had planned to steal one from a party member he knew, but it turned out to be unnecessary, because his “friend”, who had been helping Nikolaev lately and giving him money, helped him once again – he managed to get him one! The pistol …… is here; basically, everything is ready. With the help of his “friends”, Nikolayevich thought up an excuse to get a pass to the Smolny Palace. Finally, the two friends went to the countryside together to try the gun.
The momentous day came. Nikolayev, briefcase in hand, arrived at Smolny Palace and received his pass at the guards’ office. At the entrance to the main corridor of the Smolny Palace, the guard looked at the pass and cleared it for him. But he didn’t make it two steps before one of the guards stopped him again and asked him to show the contents of his briefcase. As a result, a pistol and a diary were found. Nikolaev was detained on the spot and placed in the guard’s office. For the mere possession of a gun without permission, he should have been sentenced to three years in prison. If the staff of the Slawny Palace guard office had taken another look at the diary, they would have immediately understood Nikolaev’s true intentions for entering the Smolny Palace ……
But after only two hours, a miracle occurred: the guards returned the pistol and the diary to the scheming Nikolaev and advised him to leave the Smolny Palace immediately.
Nikolaev was scared out of his wits, and ran to find his “friend”, who told him everything. The “friend” was so surprised to see Nikolaev come back unharmed after his arrest that he couldn’t recover.
What happened at Smolny Palace was a great surprise for Zaporozhye. Obviously, he did not do everything he should have done to ensure that Nikolaev got close to Kirov. And Moscow thought that it would hear the results of the assassination that day. Now, all the blame for the failure, of course, should be placed on Zaporozhets.
As soon as he got the report of Nikolaev’s detention, he ordered the head of the Smolny Palace guard to release the detainee and return his briefcase, pistol and diary. He also harboured a glimmer of hope that Nikolaev would again be sent to the Smolny Palace, this time, of course, without any obstacles, but most crucially depending on Nikolaev’s future behaviour.
Nikolaev was frustrated, very depressed, depressed, although “friends” repeatedly urged him to try again, but he could not lift the spirit …… but this situation did not last long. After ten days or so, Nikolaev again began to talk about the intention to assassinate again. That self-confidence he used to have was restored. “Friends”, following Zaporozhets’ instructions, advised him to enter the Smolny Palace this time at night.
In the evening of December 1, 1934, Nikolaev again entered the Smolny Palace, and with the same briefcase, with the same diary and pistol. This time, Zaporozhets had already made all the arrangements. Nikolayev received his pass and made his way unhindered into the corridor through the midst of the guards at the entrance. There was no one else in the corridor, only a middle-aged man named Borisov. He was Kirov’s personal assistant, and on the staff roster of the Smolny Palace, his name was noted under the entry for Special Security Officer of the Ministry of the Interior. But his usual work had nothing in common with guard duty.
Borisov just happened to be putting ham bread and a few cups of tea on a tray to be sent to the chamber where the State Committee was holding its meeting. The State Council was presided over by Kirov, and Nikolayev was waiting for him outside at ease. Borisov entered the conference hall and told Kirov that he had been asked to take a direct call from the Kremlin. After a minute, Kirov stood up from the table, walked out of the conference room, and went along to open the door.
The moment he opened the door, shots rang out. The participants rushed to the door, but all at once it was difficult to push it open: the legs of Kirov, lying in a pool of blood, were pressed against the door. Kirov was killed by a single shot. There was a man on the ground who was not known to the state committee members. It was the unconscious Nikolayev. Beside him was the lost pistol and briefcase. Apart from the dead man and the murderer, there was no one else in the corridor. Even Kirov’s personal guard was nowhere to be seen, much to the surprise of the state committee members. It took a while before the corridor was filled with the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who had come to arrest Nikolaev.
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