Russian constitutional crisis of 1993

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The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 began in earnest on September 21, when Russian President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the country's legislature (Congress of People's Deputies and its Supreme Soviet), which was opposing his moves to consolidate power and push forward with unpopular neoliberal reforms. Yeltsin's decree of September 21 contravened the then-functioning constitution; on October 15, after the end of the crisis, he ordered a referendum on a new constitution.

Related Topics:
September 21 - Russian President - Boris Yeltsin - Neoliberal - October 15

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The Congress rejected the decree and voted to remove Yeltsin from presidency through "impeachment". His estranged Vice President, Alexander Rutskoy, was sworn in accordance with the existing constitution as Acting President. On September 28, public protests against Yeltsin's government began in earnest on the streets of Moscow where the first blood was shed. The legislators and their leaders were barricaded inside the White House of Russia parliament building. For the next week, anti-Yeltsin protests grew, until a mass uprising erupted in the city on October 2. Russia was on the brink of civil war. At this point the security and military elites threw their support behind Yeltsin, besieged the parliament building, and through the use of tank artillery forced the opposing faction out. By October 5, armed resistance to Yeltsin had been crushed. The ten-day conflict had seen the most deadly street fighting in Moscow since the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917. According to government estimates, 187 had been killed and 437 wounded (practically all of them were the Congress supporters).

Related Topics:
Impeachment - September 28 - White House of Russia - October 2 - Civil war - Tank - October 5 - Bolshevik Revolution - October - 1917

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