23 images Created 15 Jul 2021
Civil War In Moscow
In October 1993 a constitutional crisis that had been brewing in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union finally came to a head. On 21 September President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the Country’s parliament, the Supreme Soviet, despite lacking the legal authority to do so. The parliament replied by declaring the dissolution null, impeaching Yeltsin and declaring Vice President Alexander Rutskoi Acting President.
With two rival wings of government claiming to rule the country the scene was set for a violent confrontation. After over a week of watching armed opposition supporters set up camp in and around the parliamentary White House, and with a sense that power was slipping away, Yeltsin had police and Interior Ministry troops seal off the parliament with barbed wire.
Opposition demonstrators responded by constructing burning barricades in central Moscow, and on Sunday 4 October fought their way through police lines to free the parliament building. The following morning Yeltsin, after pleading with army generals overnight for support, sent tanks and special forces to storm the White House.
Official records state that 147 people were killed in the fighting, although the opposition claimed the casualties were much higher; the true figure will probably never be known. The confrontation left Boris Yeltsin in undisputed control of Russia for the first time.
With two rival wings of government claiming to rule the country the scene was set for a violent confrontation. After over a week of watching armed opposition supporters set up camp in and around the parliamentary White House, and with a sense that power was slipping away, Yeltsin had police and Interior Ministry troops seal off the parliament with barbed wire.
Opposition demonstrators responded by constructing burning barricades in central Moscow, and on Sunday 4 October fought their way through police lines to free the parliament building. The following morning Yeltsin, after pleading with army generals overnight for support, sent tanks and special forces to storm the White House.
Official records state that 147 people were killed in the fighting, although the opposition claimed the casualties were much higher; the true figure will probably never be known. The confrontation left Boris Yeltsin in undisputed control of Russia for the first time.
