Shooting of the White House 1993 reasons. The shooting of the White House and the complete list of the dead. Yeltsin suspended the Constitution, although it was illegal

In the early years of existence Russian Federation confrontation President Boris Yeltsin and the Supreme Council led to an armed clash, the shooting of the White House and bloodshed. As a result, the system of government bodies that had existed since the times of the USSR was completely eliminated, and a new Constitution was adopted. AiF.ru recalls the tragic events of October 3-4, 1993.

Before the collapse Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, according to the Constitution of 1978, was empowered to resolve all issues within the jurisdiction of the RSFSR. After the USSR ceased to exist, the Supreme Soviet was an organ of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation (the highest authority) and still had enormous power and authority, despite the amendments to the Constitution on the separation of powers.

Boris Yeltsin. October 2, 1993. Photo: www.russianlook.com

It turned out that the main law of the country, adopted under Brezhnev, limited the rights of the elected President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, and he strove for the speedy adoption of a new Constitution.

In 1992-1993, a constitutional crisis erupted in the country. President Boris Yeltsin and his supporters, as well as the Council of Ministers, entered into a confrontation with the Supreme Soviet, chaired by Ruslana Khasbulatova, most of the People's Deputies of the Congress and Vice President Alexander Rutsky.

The conflict was connected with the fact that its parties completely differently represented the further political and socio-economic development of the country. They had especially serious differences over economic reforms, and no one was going to compromise.

Aggravation of the crisis

The crisis entered its active phase on September 21, 1993, when Boris Yeltsin announced in a televised address that he had issued a decree on a phased constitutional reform, according to which the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet were to cease their activities. He was supported by the Council of Ministers, headed by Viktor Chernomyrdin and Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov.

However, under the current Constitution of 1978, the president did not have the authority to dissolve the Supreme Council and the Congress. His actions were regarded as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court decided to terminate the powers of President Yeltsin. Ruslan Khasbulatov even called his actions a coup d'état.

In the following weeks, the conflict only escalated. Members of the Supreme Council and people's deputies actually found themselves blocked in the White House, where communications and electricity were cut off and there was no water. The building was cordoned off by police and military personnel. In turn, opposition volunteers were given weapons to guard the White House.

The storming of Ostankino and the shooting of the White House

The situation of dual power could not continue for too long and eventually led to riots, armed clashes and the shooting of the House of Soviets.

On October 3, supporters of the Supreme Council gathered for a rally on October Square, then moved to the White House and unblocked it. Vice President Alexander Rutskoi urged them to storm the city hall on Novy Arbat and Ostankino. The city hall building was seized by armed demonstrators, but when they tried to get into the television center, a tragedy broke out.

To defend the television center in Ostankino, a detachment of special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs "Vityaz" arrived. An explosion occurred in the ranks of the fighters, from which Private Nikolai Sitnikov died.

After that, the "Knights" began to shoot at the crowd of supporters of the Supreme Council, who had gathered near the television center. Broadcasting of all TV channels from Ostankino was interrupted, only one channel remained on the air, broadcasting from another studio. An attempt to storm the television center was unsuccessful and led to the death of a number of demonstrators, military personnel, journalists and random people.

The next day, October 4, troops loyal to President Yeltsin launched an assault on the House of Soviets. The White House was shelled by tanks. A fire broke out in the building, due to which its facade was half blackened. Shots of shelling then spread around the world.

Onlookers gathered to watch the execution of the White House, who put themselves in danger because they fell into the field of view of snipers located on neighboring houses.

During the day, the defenders of the Supreme Council began to leave the building en masse, and by the evening they stopped resisting. Opposition leaders, including Khasbulatov and Rutskoi, were arrested. In 1994, the participants in these events were amnestied.

The tragic events of late September - early October 1993 claimed the lives of more than 150 people, about 400 people were injured. Among the dead were journalists who covered what was happening, and many ordinary citizens. October 7, 1993 was declared a day of mourning.

After October

The events of October 1993 led to the fact that the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies ceased to exist. The system of state bodies, left over from the times of the USSR, was completely eliminated.

Before the elections to the Federal Assembly and the adoption of the new Constitution, all power was in the hands of President Boris Yeltsin.

On December 12, 1993, a popular vote was held on the new Constitution and elections to the State Duma and the Federation Council.

The theme of "bloody October 1993" is still under seven seals today. No one knows exactly how many citizens died in those troubled days. However, the figures given by independent sources are appalling.

Scheduled for 7:00

In the autumn of 1993, the confrontation between the two branches of power - the president and the government, on the one hand, and people's deputies and the Supreme Council, on the other - reached a dead end. The constitution, which the opposition so zealously defended, bound Boris Yeltsin hand and foot. There was only one way out: to change the law, if necessary, by force.

The conflict went into a phase of extreme escalation on September 21, after the famous Decree No. 1400, in which Yeltsin temporarily terminated the powers of the Congress and the Supreme Council. Communications, water and electricity were cut off in the parliament building. However, the legislators blocked there were not going to give up. Volunteers came to their aid to defend the White House.

On the night of October 4, the president decides to storm the Supreme Council using armored vehicles, government troops are drawn to the building. The operation is scheduled for 7 am. As soon as the countdown of the eighth hour began, the first victim appeared - a police captain, who was filming what was happening from the balcony of the Ukraine Hotel, died from a bullet.

White House victims

Already at 10 am, information began to come in about the death of a large number of defenders of the residence of the Supreme Council as a result of tank shelling. By 11:30 a.m., 158 people needed medical care, 19 of them later died in the hospital. At 13:00, People's Deputy Vyacheslav Kotelnikov reported on the heavy casualties among those who were in the White House. At about 2:50 pm, unknown snipers begin to shoot at people crowded in front of the parliament.

Closer to 16:00, the resistance of the defenders was suppressed. The government commission assembled in hot pursuit quickly counts the victims of the tragedy - 124 killed, 348 wounded. Moreover, the list does not include those killed in the White House building itself.

Leonid Proshkin, the head of the investigation team of the Prosecutor General's Office, who dealt with cases of the seizure of the Moscow mayor's office and the television center, notes that all the victims are the result of attacks by government forces, since it was proved that "not a single person was killed by the weapons of the White House defenders." According to the Prosecutor General's Office, which MP Viktor Ilyukhin referred to, a total of 148 people were killed during the storming of the parliament, with 101 people near the building.

And then in various comments on these events, the numbers only grew. On October 4, CNN, relying on its sources, stated that about 500 people had died. The newspaper "Argumenty i Fakty", referring to the soldiers of the internal troops, wrote that they collected the "charred and torn by tank shells" remains of almost 800 defenders. Among them were those who drowned in the flooded basements of the White House. Former deputy of the Supreme Council from the Chelyabinsk region Anatoly Baronenko announced 900 dead.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta published an article by an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who did not want to introduce himself, who said: “In total, about 1,500 corpses were found in the White House, among them women and children. All of them were secretly taken out of there through an underground tunnel leading from the White House to the Krasnopresnenskaya metro station, and further outside the city, where they were burned.”

There is unconfirmed information that a note was seen on the desk of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Viktor Chernomyrdin, which indicated that in just three days 1,575 corpses were taken out of the White House. But Literaturnaya Rossiya was the most surprised by its announcement of 5,000 deaths.

Counting Difficulties

The representative of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Tatyana Astrakhankina, who headed the commission investigating the events of October 1993, found that shortly after the execution of the parliament, all materials on this case were classified, “some medical records of the wounded and the dead” were rewritten, and “dates of admission to morgues and hospitals” were also changed. . This, of course, creates an almost insurmountable obstacle to an accurate count of the number of victims of the storming of the White House.

It is possible to determine the number of dead, at least in the White House itself, only indirectly. According to the estimates of the General Newspaper, about 2,000 besieged people left the White House building without filtering. Given that initially there were about 2.5 thousand people, we can conclude that the number of victims did not exactly exceed 500.

We must not forget that the first victims of the confrontation between the supporters of the President and the Parliament appeared long before the attack on the White House. So, on September 23, two people died on the Leningrad Highway, and since September 27, according to some estimates, the victims have become almost daily.

According to Rutskoy and Khasbulatov, by the middle of the day on October 3, the death toll had reached 20 people. In the afternoon of the same day, as a result of a clash between the opposition and the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the Crimean bridge, 26 civilians and 2 policemen were killed.

Even if we raise the lists of all those who died in hospitals and went missing during those days, it will be extremely difficult to determine which of them fell victim to precisely political clashes.

Ostankino massacre

On the eve of the assault on the White House on the evening of October 3, responding to Rutskoy's call, General Albert Makashov, at the head of an armed detachment of 20 people and several hundred volunteers, tried to seize the television center building. However, by the time the operation began, Ostankino was already guarded by 24 armored personnel carriers and about 900 soldiers loyal to the president.

After the trucks of supporters of the Supreme Council rammed the ASK-3 building, an explosion was heard (its source was never identified), which caused the first victims. This was the signal for heavy fire, which began to be conducted by internal troops and police officers from the building of the television complex.

They fired in bursts and single shots, including from sniper rifles, just into the crowd, without understanding the journalists, onlookers or trying to pull out the wounded. Later, indiscriminate shooting was explained by the large crowding of people and the onset of twilight.

But the worst began later. Most of the people tried to hide in the Oak Grove located next to AEK-3. One of the oppositionists recalled how the crowd was squeezed in a grove from two sides, and then they began to shoot from an armored personnel carrier and four automatic nests from the roof of a television center.

According to official figures, the battles for Ostankino claimed the lives of 46 people, including two inside the building. However, witnesses claim that there were many more victims.

Don't count the numbers

Writer Alexander Ostrovsky in his book The Shooting of the White House. Black October 1993" tried to sum up the victims of those tragic events, based on verified data: "Before October 2 - 4 people, on the afternoon of October 3 at the White House - 3, in Ostankino - 46, during the storming of the White House - at least 165, 3 and on October 4 in other places of the city - 30, on the night of October 4-5 - 95, plus those who died after October 5, in total - about 350 people.

However, many admit that official statistics are several times underestimated. How much, one can only guess, based on eyewitness accounts of those events.

Sergei Surnin, a teacher at Moscow State University, who observed the events near the White House, recalled how, after the shooting began, he and 40 other people fell to the ground: “Armored personnel carriers passed us and from a distance of 12-15 meters they shot people lying - one third of those lying nearby were killed or injured. And in the immediate vicinity of me - three dead, two wounded: next to me, to the right of me, a dead man, another dead behind me, in front, at least one dead."

Artist Anatoly Nabatov from the window of the White House saw how in the evening after the end of the assault, a group of about 200 people was brought to the Krasnaya Presnya stadium. They were stripped, and then at the wall adjacent to Druzhinnikovskaya Street, they began to shoot in batches until late at night on October 5. Eyewitnesses said that they were beaten beforehand. According to deputy Baronenko, at least 300 people were shot at the stadium and near it.

Georgy Gusev, a well-known public figure who headed the People's Action movement in 1993, testified that in the yards and entrances of the detainees, riot police beat the detainees, and then killed unknown people "in a strange form."

One of the drivers who took out the corpses from the parliament building and from the stadium admitted that he had to make two trips to the Moscow region in his truck. In the forest, the corpses were thrown into pits, covered with earth, and the burial place was leveled with a bulldozer.

Human rights activist Yevgeny Yurchenko, one of the founders of the Memorial society, who dealt with the secret destruction of corpses in Moscow crematoria, managed to learn from the workers of the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery about the burning of 300-400 corpses. Yurchenko also drew attention to the fact that if in "normal months", according to the statistics of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, up to 200 unclaimed corpses were burned in crematoria, then in October 1993 this figure increased several times - up to 1500.

According to Yurchenko, the list of those killed during the events of September-October 1993, where the fact of disappearance was either proven or witnesses of death were found, is 829 people. But obviously this list is incomplete.

Confrontation legislative and executive power in Russia ended in bloody events in October 1993. One of the main causes of the conflict was a fundamental divergence of views on the issue of socio-economic and political the course of Russia. The government headed by B.N. Yeltsin and E.T. Gaidar acted as a defender of radical market reforms, and the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR headed by R.I. Khasbulatov and Vice-President of Russia A.B. Rutskoi resisted reforms, opposing the market regulated economy.

In December 1992 V.S. Chernomyrdin

replaced E.T. Gaidar as head of government. But the expected change of course did not happen, only some adjustments were made to the monetary course, which caused even more indignation of the legislators. The political situation in Russia in 1993 became more and more tense.

An important reason for the growing antagonism between the two branches of power was their lack of experience in interaction within the framework of the system of separation of powers, which Russia practically did not know.

The Russian president was the first to strike at a political opponent. In a TV appearance September 21 he announced termination of powers of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet. At the same time, the presidential decree “On a phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation” came into force. He actually introduced temporary presidential rule and meant a radical break in the entire existing state-political and constitutional system.

The Supreme Council, located in the White House, refused to obey the presidential decree and equated it with a coup d'état. On the night of September 21-22, the Supreme Council was sworn in as President of the Russian Federation Vice President A. Rutskoy. On September 22, the Supreme Council decided to supplement the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with an article punishing anti-constitutional activities, non-fulfilment of its and the Congress's decisions and obstruction of its activities "up to execution." On the same day, the White House security service began distributing weapons to civilians.

Within 10 days, the confrontation between the executive and legislative branches of power developed on the rise. September 27 – 28 the blockade of the White House began, surrounded by police and riot police. On the night of October 3-4, bloody skirmishes took place near the television buildings and in them, television broadcasts were interrupted, but the attacks of the Supreme Soviet detachments were repulsed. Decree B.N. Yeltsin in Moscow was introduced state of emergency, the entry of government troops into the capital began. Yeltsin declared the actions of the White House "an armed fascist-communist rebellion."

On the morning of October 4 government troops started siege and tank shelling of the White House. By the evening of the same day, he was taken, and his leadership, headed by R. Khasbulatov and A. Rutsky, was arrested.

As a result of the storming of the White House, there were casualties on both sides, and, undoubtedly, October 1993 became a tragic page in Russian history. The blame for this tragedy lies on the shoulders of Russian politicians, who clashed in the autumn of 1993 not only in fight for their political goals, but also, to a lesser extent, power struggle.

In September 1993 B.N. Yeltsin issued a Decree, according to which, for July 1994, appointed early presidential elections. In the statement of the President of the Russian Federation of October 8, i.e. already after the defeat of the opposition, it was confirmed that elections to the supreme legislative body would be held in December.

In the fall of 1993, the conflict between the branches of power led to fighting on the streets of Moscow, the shooting of the White House and hundreds of victims. According to many, then the fate of not only the political system was being decided Russia but also the integrity of the country.

This event has many names - "The shooting of the White House", "October uprising of 1993", "Decree 1400", "October coup", "Yeltsin's coup of 1993", "Black October". However, it is the latter that is neutral in nature, reflecting the tragedy of the situation that arose due to the unwillingness of the warring parties to compromise. [S-BLOCK]

The internal political crisis in the Russian Federation, which has been developing since the end of 1992, resulted in a clash between the president's supporters Boris Yeltsin on the one hand and the Supreme Soviet on the other. Political scientists see this as the apogee of the conflict between the two models of power: the new liberal-democratic and the obsolete Soviet.

The result of the confrontation was the forcible termination of the operation of the Supreme Soviet in Russia, which had existed since 1938, as the highest body of state power. In clashes between opposing sides in Moscow, which peaked on October 3-4, 1993, according to official figures, at least 158 ​​people died, another 423 were injured or otherwise damaged.

Russian society still does not have clear answers to a number of key questions about those tragic days. There are only versions of participants and eyewitnesses of events, journalists, political scientists. Investigation of the actions of the conflicting parties, initiated CPRF, and remained unfinished. The investigation team was disbanded State Duma after the decision was made on the amnesty of all persons involved in the events of September 21 - October 4, 1993.

Relinquish power

It all started in December 1992, when, at the 7th Congress of People's Deputies, parliamentarians and the leadership of the Supreme Council sharply criticized the government Yegor Gaidar. As a result, the reformer's candidacy, nominated by the president for the post of chairman of the government, was not approved by the Congress.

Yeltsin, in response, lashed out at the deputies and proposed for discussion the idea of ​​an all-Russian referendum on the issue of confidence. “What force has drawn us into this black streak? Yeltsin thought. - First of all - the constitutional ambiguity. Oath on the Constitution, the constitutional duty of the president. And at the same time, his full limitation of rights.

On March 20, 1993, Yeltsin, in a televised address to the people, announced the suspension of the Constitution and the introduction of a "special procedure for governing the country." Three days later, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation reacted, recognizing Yeltsin's actions as unconstitutional and seeing them as grounds for removing the president from office.

On March 28, the Congress of People's Deputies got involved, which rejected the draft on calling early presidential and parliamentary elections and held a vote on the removal of Yeltsin from office. But the impeachment attempt failed. 617 deputies voted for the removal of the president from office, with the required 689 votes.

On April 25, a nationwide referendum initiated by Yeltsin was held, at which the majority supported the president and the government and spoke in favor of holding early elections of people's deputies of the Russian Federation. Boris Yeltsin's opponents, dissatisfied with the results of the referendum, went to a demonstration on May 1, which was dispersed by riot police. On this day, the first blood was shed.

fatal decree

But Yeltsin's confrontation with the Supreme Soviet headed by the speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and vice president Alexander Rutsky was just beginning. On September 1, 1993, Yeltsin, by his decree, temporarily suspended Rutskoy from his duties "in connection with the ongoing investigation, and also due to the lack of instructions to the vice president."

However, Rutskoi's accusations of corruption were not confirmed - compromising documents were found to be fake. Parliamentarians then sharply condemned the presidential decree, believing that it intruded into the sphere of authority of the judiciary of state power.

But Yeltsin does not stop and on September 21 signs the fatal decree No. 1400 "On a phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation", which ultimately provoked riots in the capital. The decree ordered the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet to cease their activities “in order to preserve the unity and integrity of the Russian Federation; leading the country out of the economic and political crisis. [S-BLOCK]

A coup d'état was brewing in the country. According to political scientists, Yeltsin's opponents had motives for removing the incumbent president. Khasbulatov, by the time the Congress of People's Deputies was dissolved, had lost his constituency, since Chechnya de facto separated from Russia. Rutskoi had no chance of winning presidential elections, but as acting president, he could count on rising popularity.

As a result of Decree No. 1400, in accordance with Article 121.6 of the current Constitution, Yeltsin was automatically removed from the post of president, since his powers could not be used to dissolve or suspend the activities of any legally elected bodies of state power. The post of head of state de jure passed to Vice President Rutskoi.

President acts

Back in August 1993, Yeltsin predicted a "hot autumn." He frequented the bases of key army units in Moscow region, at the same time they were two or three times increased the salaries of the officers.

In early September, by order of Yeltsin, the head of the Constitutional Court Valeria Zorkina deprived of a car with a special connection, and the building of the Constitutional Court itself was released from protection. At the same time, the Grand Kremlin Palace was closed for repairs, and the deputies who lost their premises for work were forced to move to the White House.

On September 23, Yeltsin reached the White House. After the deputies and members of the Supreme Council refused to leave the building, the government turned off the heating, water, electricity and telephone in it. The White House was surrounded by three cordons barbed wire and several thousand soldiers. However, the defenders of the Supreme Council also had weapons.

A few days before the events, Yeltsin met with the Minister of Defense at the government dacha in Zavidovo. Pavel Grachev and director Federal Security Service Mikhail Barsukov. Former head of the presidential guard Alexander Korzhakov told how Barsukov proposed to conduct command and staff exercises to work out the interaction between those units that might have to fight in the capital.

In response, Grachev started up: “Are you panicking, Misha? Yes, I will tear everyone there with my paratroopers. And B.N. supported him: “Sergeich knows better. He passed Afghanistan." And you, they say, are “parquet”, shut up, ”Korzhakov recalled the conversation.

The Patriarch of All Russia tried to prevent the brewing drama Alexy II. With his mediation, on October 1, the conflicting parties signed a Protocol that provided for the beginning of the withdrawal of troops from the House of Soviets and the disarmament of its defenders. However, the White House Defense Staff, together with the deputies, denounced the Protocol and was ready to continue the confrontation.

On October 3, riots began in Moscow: the cordon around the White House building was broken by supporters of the Supreme Council, and a group of armed men led by General Albert Makashov took over the building Moscow mayor's office. At the same time, demonstrations in support of the Supreme Soviet were held in many places in the capital, in which the participants of the actions entered into an active clash with the police.

After Rutskoi's call, a crowd of demonstrators moved towards the television center, intending to seize it in order to give the leaders of the parliament an opportunity to address the people. However, the armed forces MIA were ready to meet. When a young man with a grenade launcher fired a shot to knock down the door, the troops opened fire on the demonstrators and their sympathizers. According to Prosecutor General's Office at least 46 people were killed and subsequently died from their wounds in the area of ​​the television center. [S-BLOCK]

After the bloodshed near Ostankino, Yeltsin convinced Defense Minister Pavel Grachev to order army units to storm the White House. The attack began on the morning of 4 October. The inconsistency in the actions of the military led to the fact that the shooting heavy machine guns and tanks were fired not only at the building, but also at unarmed people who were in the cordon zone near the House of Soviets, which led to numerous casualties. By evening, the resistance of the White House defenders was crushed.

Politician and blogger Alexander Verbin called the action on October 4 "paid military", noting that the OMON special forces and specially trained snipers, on Yeltsin's orders, shot the defenders of the Constitution. Not the last role in the behavior of the president, according to the blogger, was played by the support of the West.

The figure of Yeltsin as the head of the state built on the fragments of the USSR completely tripled the West, first of all United States, so Western politicians actually turned a blind eye to the execution of parliament. Doctor of Law Alexander Domrin says that there are even facts that testify to the intention of the Americans to send troops to Moscow to support Yeltsin.

There is no unanimity Politics, journalists, intellectuals were divided in their opinions about the events that took place in October 1993. For example, an academic Dmitry Likhachev then he expressed full support for Yeltsin's actions: “The president is the only person who is elected by the people. This means that what he did is not only correct, but also logical. References to the fact that the Decree does not comply with the Constitution are nonsense.”

Russian publicist Igor Pykhalov sees Yeltsin's victory as an attempt to establish a pro-Western regime in Russia. The trouble with those events is that we did not have an organizing force capable of resisting Western influence, Pykhalov believes. The Supreme Council, according to the publicist, had a significant drawback - the people who stood on its side did not have a single leadership or a single ideology. Therefore, they could not agree and develop a position understandable to the broad masses.

Yeltsin provoked confrontation because he was losing, says American writer and journalist David Sutter. "The President has made no effort to work with Parliament," Sutter continues. "He didn't try to influence legislators, he didn't explain what his policy was, he ignored parliamentary debates." [S-BLOCK]

Subsequently, Yeltsin interpreted the events between September 21 and October 4 as a confrontation between democracy and communist reaction. But experts tend to see this as a struggle for power between former allies, for whom resentment over corruption in the executive branch was a powerful irritant.

Political scientist Yevgeny Gilbo believes that the confrontation between Yeltsin and Khasbulatov was beneficial to both sides, since their policy did not have a constructive reform program, and the only form of existence for them was only confrontation.

"Stupid struggle for power" - so categorically expressed publicist Leonid Radzikhovsky. According to the Constitution then in force, the two branches of power squeezed each other. According to the stupid Soviet law, the Congress of People's Deputies had "full power", writes Radzikhovsky. But since neither the deputies nor the members of the Supreme Council could lead the country, the real power was in the hands of the president.