The Cosmonauts' Motorcade
Dressed like a policeman, Ilyin moved unimpeded through a large crowd waiting at the Kremlin. They were clustered at the Borovitsky Gate, where a special motorcade was expected to pass: it would be bearing the successful cosmonauts of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 to an official Soviet ceremony of the highest order.
The spaceflight crewmembers - Vladimir Shatalov, Boris Volynov, Yevgeny Khrunov, and Aleksei Yeliseyev - had returned only a week earlier from their historic manned ship-to-manned ship docking mission in space, the first of its kind. Arriving at Vnukovo Airport, they were being driven with Brezhnev and Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny to their commemorative celebration inside the Kremlin's Palace of Congresses. The four honorees rode in an open convertible at the front of the line, waving to spectators while a line of closed limousines trailed behind them.
Read more about this topic: Brezhnev Assassination Attempt