After the incident on 28 September 1989, when Boris Yeltsin fell from a bridge, Korzhakov set up a unit of former KGB agents to protect Yeltsin. Following the election of Yeltsin in June 1991 as President of the RSFSR, Korzhakov became the Chief of Yeltsin's Security Service, which was later transformed into the "Presidential Security Service" when the Soviet Union was dissolved. He was responsible for the protection of Yeltsin during the August coup attempt in 1991 and on 4 October 1993, when the White House of Russia was stormed.