In the fall of 1993, a political crisis broke out in Russia, which ended with two days of tank shooting at the parliament building, the storming of Ostankino and armed clashes in Moscow streets. In fact, it was a coup that threatened to escalate into a civil war. The conflict went down in history as the "shooting of the White House" or "Black October".
How it all started
Historians agree that the beginning of the October 1993 conflict was laid back in 1990 by Mikhail Gorbachev and Anatoly Lukyanov. At that time, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR was elected, headed by Boris Yeltsin, who then had rather high ratings. To weaken his influence on the masses, Gorbachev and Lukyanov tried to divide the country. They hastily prepared a law on the creation of a number of union republics: Ingush, Tuva, Chechen, Tatar, North Ossetian, etc. This was necessary so that there was no single leader in the country.
However, Yeltsin managed to persuade parliament to introduce the post of President and arrange a referendum. On July 10, 1991, he became the first president of Russia. However, this was contrary to the old Constitution of the RSFSR, according to which the country then lived. Before the collapse of the Union, all issues were decided by the Supreme Council, and after 1990 it continued to possess great power and authority.
Yeltsin planned to carry out a phased privatization in the country in order to destroy monopoly, create competition and thereby lower prices. However, the Supreme Council decided to immediately let the prices float freely. As a result, many people lost their jobs and all their savings. This hit Yeltsin's ratings hard. At the end of 1992, he decided to dissolve the old parliament in any way. He managed to do this only after 9 months.
The conflict consisted in the fact that Yeltsin and the Supreme Soviet represented the future political and socio-economic life of the country in completely different ways. So, there were serious disagreements about economic reforms, and neither side was going to compromise.
Two weeks before "Black October"
On September 21, 1993, the conflict escalated. Yeltsin appeared on television with a decree on constitutional reform. According to it, the Supreme Council should be abolished. His decision was supported by the then mayor of the capital Yuri Luzhkov and the Council of Ministers led by Viktor Chernomyrdin. However, according to the current Soviet Constitution, Yeltsin did not have such powers. The Constitutional Court convicted him and the ministers of violating a number of articles.
The Supreme Council, chaired by Ruslan Khasbulatov, removed them from work and appointed Alexander Rutskoy as acting president. Yeltsin's actions were seen as a coup d'etat. Since September 24, he tried to storm the White House almost every night, but it constantly failed.
In the following days, the conflict only escalated. Members of the Supreme Soviet and deputies were blocked in the White House. Their communications, electricity and water were cut off. The parliament building was cordoned off by police and military personnel, as well as volunteers who were given weapons.
How the shooting of the White House took place
We can say that for almost two weeks there was a dual power in the country. This could not last long. As a result, the conflict escalated into riots, armed clashes and the shooting of the White House.
On October 3, supporters of the Supreme Soviet went to a rally, and then unblocked the parliament. Acting President Alexander Rutskoi called on the people to storm the mayor's office and the Ostankino television center. The city hall was quickly captured. But the attempt to seize the television center resulted in bloodshed.
Ostankino was defended by special forces, which began firing at the supporters of the Supreme Soviet. People were killed both among the protesters and among journalists and ordinary onlookers, of whom there were many on the streets of Moscow at that time.
The next day, special forces began an assault on the White House. He was fired upon by tanks, which led to a fire. By the evening, the supporters of the Supreme Soviet ceased their resistance. Their opposition leaders, including Khasbulatov and Rutskoi, were placed under arrest. A year later, the participants in these events were amnestied.
On December 12, 1993, a new Constitution was adopted. Also, elections to the State Duma and the Federation Council took place.
