MOSCOW, October 4 - RIA Novosti. The October coup of 1993 was not accidental - it was being prepared for two years and, as a result, actually killed people's trust in power, says Sergey Filatov, president of the Foundation for Socio-Economic and Intellectual Programs, former head of the Yeltsin presidential administration.

Twenty years ago, on October 3-4, 1993, clashes took place in Moscow between supporters of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1991-1999). The confrontation between the two branches of Russian power, the executive represented by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the legislative represented by the parliament, the Supreme Council (SC) of the RSFSR, headed by Ruslan Khasbulatov, which had lasted since the collapse of the USSR, around the pace of reforms and methods of building a new state, on October 3-4, 1993, passed into an armed clash and ended with a tank shelling of the residence of the parliament - the House of Soviets (White House).

Chronicle of the events of the political crisis of the autumn of 1993 in RussiaTwenty years ago, in early October 1993, tragic events took place in Moscow that ended with the storming of the building of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and the abolition of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet in Russia.

The tension was building up

“What happened on October 3-4, 1993, was not predetermined in one day. It was an event that took two years to reach. For two years, tension grew. that it was a purposeful struggle on the part of the Supreme Council against the reforms that the government was implementing," Filatov said at a multimedia round table on the topic: "The October Putsch of 1993. Twenty years later ...", held at RIA Novosti on Friday.

According to him, the two first persons of the state - Boris Yeltsin and the head of the Supreme Council (SC) of the RSFSR Ruslan Khasbulatov - failed to enter the "normal path of relations." Moreover, "absolute and deep distrust" has arisen between the two top officials, he added.

Political scientist Leonid Polyakov agreed with this opinion.

“In fact, the putsch of 1993 is a postponed GKChP of 1991. In 1991, these people, seeing hundreds of thousands of Muscovites who surrounded the White House, the leaders of the GKChP were simply, as they say, afraid. At first they themselves frightened by bringing tanks into the capital ", and then they themselves were frightened of what they had done. But the forces that were behind this, and the people who sincerely believed in what turned out to be destroyed in August 1991, they did not go away. And two years followed, the most difficult, the hardest in our history, which accounted for the collapse of the USSR and the disappearance of the state ... By October 1993, this explosive potential had accumulated, "Polyakov noted.

conclusions

Conclusions from the events of 1993, according to Filatov, can be drawn both positive and negative.

"The fact that we eliminated dual power is positive, that we adopted the Constitution is positive. And the fact that we actually killed people's trust in power and this continued for the rest of the 20 years is an obvious fact that we have to restore to this day we can't," he says.

In turn, political scientist Polyakov expressed the hope that the events of 1993 were "the last Russian revolution."

Film about the events of 1993

During the round table, a film about the events of October 1993 was presented, shot by RIA Novosti specialists in a web documentary format, which has received worldwide recognition due to the fact that the viewer has the opportunity to interact with the content and has more freedom of action than the viewer of a plot with a linear form of narration, where the course of history is predetermined by the director. This is the third RIA Novosti film in 2013 in an interactive format.

"For each of the participants in these events, it was a part of his life, a part of his inner history. And it was about these people that we wanted to tell in our film, an interactive video; to make it possible to see through their eyes, through their emotions, through their memories those difficult days. Because now it seems like some rather distant and somewhat unusual event in our country. I really hope that this will continue, because tanks firing at the White House from the embankment are an absolutely terrible sight. And, probably, for every Muscovite and any resident of Russia, it was something absolutely incredible," Ilya Lazarev, deputy editor-in-chief of RIA Novosti, shared his memories.

The film contains photographs of people who were subsequently found by RIA Novosti and who spoke about their memories of those events.

"We revived the photos and tried to bring some video episodes to our present time ... Our colleagues, directors have been working on this format for three months - this is a very difficult story. You can watch the film episodically, linearly, but the main story and task is to make sure that you immerse yourself in this atmosphere, draw your own conclusions, but rather just get to know people who have experienced this story and let it through themselves," Lazarev added.

As a result of the tragic events of October 3-4, 1993 in Moscow, the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation were liquidated. Prior to the election of the Federal Assembly and the adoption of a new Constitution, direct presidential rule was established in the Russian Federation. By the Decree of October 7, 1993 "On Legal Regulation during the Period of Gradual Constitutional Reform in the Russian Federation", the President established that before the start of the work of the Federal Assembly, issues of a budgetary and financial nature, land reform, property, civil service and social employment of the population, previously resolved by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation are now carried out by the President of the Russian Federation. By another decree of October 7 "On the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation," the president actually abolished this body. Boris Yeltsin also issued a number of decrees terminating the activities of the representative authorities of the subjects of the Federation and local Soviets.

On December 12, 1993, a new Constitution of Russia was adopted, in which such a state authority as the Congress of People's Deputies was no longer mentioned.

The events from September 21st to October 4th, 1993 continue to be a hot, debated topic, often a matter of controversy. Today, researchers of the October coup hold a variety of points of view on what happened, its causes and consequences, as well as the political essence and significance for the state and people. The official interpretation of events boils down to justifying the actions of Boris Yeltsin's supporters, as evidenced by the numerous awards and titles his supporters have and criminal cases against opposition representatives.

The most vague page of the Russian Federation cannot be unambiguously assessed. Today there are two radically opposite opinions about the essence of dispersal of the Supreme Council. Some believe that the president's actions can be regarded as a coup d'état and a crime, while others consider him the "savior of Russian democracy" and the inspirer of economic and social reforms. One way to clarify the historical situation is to study the documents and legally assess the events.

On September 21, 1993, Yeltsin issued Decree No. 1400 "On a phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation", ordering the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation (according to the Constitution - the highest body of state power in Russia) to cease their activities. The head of state invited the deputies to return to work in those institutions where they worked before their election and to take part in the elections to the new legislative body - the Federal Assembly. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, assembled for an emergency session, decided that this decree violates the Russian Constitution in twelve places. And, according to the Constitution, this is the basis for the removal of President Boris Yeltsin from office. The constitution clearly defined the competence of state bodies, including the Supreme Council and the President. The Congress of People's Deputies, in accordance with Chapter 13, was recognized as the highest body of state power and endowed with the right to cancel acts of both the Supreme Council (the country's legislative body) and the President (head of state and Council of Ministers). The legislative power was personified by the Supreme Council. The frequency of its meetings was determined from 2 times a year, extraordinary convocations were also allowed at the initiative of the Presidium or the Chairman. The powers of the Supreme Council were quite broad.

Chapter 13/1 included provisions for the President of the Republic. Its competence was much narrower than in the current edition. Thus, the head of state had a legislative initiative and was recognized as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, endowed with the right of veto, but at the same time he was obliged to report annually on the results of his work to the parliament. In addition, deputies had the right to demand an extraordinary report from the President, subject to certain requirements. However, the main instrument of influence on the head of state was the right of impeachment, which people's representatives could put forward at the Congress on the basis of the conclusion of the Constitutional Court. The President did not have the right to dissolve the Supreme Council. It should be noted that from a legal point of view, Russia before the putsch and the adoption of the new Constitution should be called a parliamentary republic, since the predominance of power in the legislative assembly is obvious from the analysis and comparison of chapters 13 and 13/1. Article 121/6 explicitly forbade the use of the powers of the president to change the political system. Upon taking office, Boris Yeltsin took an oath of observance and protection of the norms of the Constitution, therefore, its provisions were obliged to respect.

At the same time, an unspoken conflict arose between Chairman of the Supreme Council Ruslan Khasbulatov and President Boris Yeltsin. Of course, it is not necessary to talk about the confrontation between only two officials in the case under consideration, since it was a real dual power, generated by the rash inclusion of the position of the sole head of state in the state administration system while maintaining the wide competence of the parliament. As a result of the struggle between the Supreme Council and the Government headed by the President, the constitutional crisis of 1992-1993 broke out, the work of state bodies became ineffective. Back in March 1993, the deputies, most of whom were leftists - communists, agrarians, Baburin's "Russia" and the "Fatherland" faction, tried to remove the president from power by way of impeachment, but failed to do so.

Despite the fact that the actions of Yelitsin's opponents were carried out taking into account all the norms and requirements of the law, Boris Nikolayevich did not want to recognize them. Korzhakov's memoirs can serve as clear evidence of this. A supporter of Yeltsin talks about how a plan was developed to use chloropicrin (a chemical irritant) against deputies in the event of a vote objectionable to the President. From a legal point of view, this fact alone can be qualified as a crime. After the failure of the impeachment attempt, the Congress scheduled a 4-question referendum for April 25 - the referendum produced the most favorable results for the President.

Yeltsin's supporters say out loud that the people's trust was almost absolute. Well, in rebuttal, let's just present the numbers. So the results are as follows:
- trust the President - 58.7% of those who voted (the figure is huge, but far from absolute);
- approve the policy of the President - 53% of those who voted;
- early presidential elections considered necessary - 41.2%;
- 49.5% voted for early elections of deputies of the Supreme Council.

Thus, despite the high percentage of citizens who trust the incumbent president and his policies, a significant proportion spoke in favor of his re-election. The development of a public administration crisis is evidenced by almost equal indicators on the re-election of both deputies and the President. Nevertheless, historically, the population of our country gravitated towards a single leader, and not towards an abstract majority in parliament or another collegiate body. The results of the referendum not only allowed Yeltsin to avoid being dismissed, but also predetermined all further events. The President realized that he had the support of the population and, with even greater perseverance, began to seek the expansion of powers.

The President openly declared to the public about the unwillingness of the deputies to support his socio-economic policy. From the point of view of law, such a claim looks absurd, since domestic and foreign policy, in accordance with the provisions of the current Constitution, was determined by the Congress of People's Deputies. In his address, Yeltsin focused the attention of citizens on his desire to maintain law and order, but at the same time he read out the decree of 1400, known today, which violated all the legal foundations of the young state.

So, let's look at the text of this decree. In addition to official accusations of the Parliament of delaying decision-making, unwillingness to participate in the economic transformation of the state, there was also an indication in the text that the current Constitution does not contain provisions for amending it. The analysis of the document itself confirms this statement, the basic law of the state turned out to be unfinished, and this circumstance became clear at the most critical moment. Boris Nikolayevich considered it possible, and, by the way, very convenient in his situation, to assume the function of a reformer of the legal basis, which aroused the indignation of his opponents. As a result - an attempt to convene the Congress, as well as a meeting of the Constitutional Court.

The main purpose of issuing the decree is to introduce changes and additions to the text of the current Constitution. The decree contains specific constitutional articles to justify the act of the President, but each of these norms is given only to create the appearance of the legality of the decision. Yeltsin attempted a coup d'état, and, as time has shown, it was a success. We do not undertake to evaluate the actions of Boris Yeltsin, but from the point of view of the law in force at that time, he committed a crime against the foundations of statehood. The Constitutional Court also confirmed the nullity of the decree, but in September 1993 there was no longer any talk of the rule of law in the country. The conflict went beyond the legal field, and only the strength and support of the crowd acted as arguments.

It is hardly appropriate to describe street clashes, the blockade of the building of the Supreme Council, the storming of the television center within the framework of a small publication. We confine ourselves to a brief description of the results of the September unrest and the October denouement.

September 21 Yeltsin addresses citizens and publicly announces his decision to deprive the Supreme Soviet of powers. The deputies were asked to disperse, but the assembled Congress of People's Deputies, on the basis of the decision of the Constitutional Court, terminated the powers of the President and transferred temporary presidential powers to Vice President A. V. Rutskoi. Given that the decision to dismiss was made in compliance with the requirements of the law, then from the evening of September 21, all Yeltsin's orders cannot be considered legitimate. They are based solely on the location of citizens towards him, as well as power superiority.

On September 22, the confrontation continues. The supply of electricity, heat and water to the building of the Supreme Council has been cut off since the 21st, and the sewerage system has been cut off. The whole day the situation is heating up. September 23 Yeltsin issues decrees promising material benefits. a large one-time remuneration of deputies, on the seizure of the property of the Supreme Council and the appointment of early presidential elections, which is subsequently canceled. None of these decrees can be called legitimate, since Boris Nikolayevich no longer had legal authority. Nevertheless, the confrontation is growing, none of the parties intends to give up their positions, personal ambitions come into play.

Further, peaceful demonstrators first appear on the streets, and then supporters of both sides arm themselves. The first casualties among the civilian population, barricades in the streets, pogroms, columns with armored personnel carriers and other attributes of the armed conflict are present in the capital until October 4-5.

As a result, the Supreme Council was taken by storm and ceased to exist as a state body. Power in the country passed to a strong leader, Boris Yeltsin. Thus, the events of September-October 1993 can be called a seizure of power or a coup d'état. The author will not talk about the expediency of Yeltsin's actions in this article, since this issue should be devoted to a separate publication. In conclusion, we present only one fact that is difficult to dispute. In the next elections, the population again gave their votes to B. Yeltsin, and stability came to the country for several years.

A unique video recording made by an unknown person is told by participants in the events of September-October 1993.
From the first frames, the story begins with a member of the column of the Taman division, showing where the column was fired from, what actions were taken, then he shows his actions in the current situation, who was wounded where, where they moved.
In particular, he tells how in the morning in the area of ​​​​the Krasnaya Presnya stadium, due to inconsistency in actions, armed skirmishes took place between the “Tamans” and the armored personnel carriers of the “Dzerzhins” (OMSDON of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the former Special Purpose Division named after Dzerzhinsky), There were dead and wounded, both among soldiers, and among bystanders.
Moreover, the video was made 2 months after the events and traces of that shootout are visible on the video.
A unique video recording, for anyone who wants to know much more about the events of the shooting of the White House, is a must-see. ()

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Based on all open sources of information, we tried to find out to within a few minutes what happened in the center of Moscow 20 years ago.

16:00 Moscow time. A man in camouflage told reporters. That he is a member of the Alpha Special Forces and will enter the White House to begin negotiations for the surrender of its defenders.

15:50 Moscow time. Looks like the fight is over. Leaflets titled "The Testament of the White House Defenders" are scattered around the White House. The message says: “Now that you are reading this letter, we are no longer among the living. Our bullet-riddled bodies are burning within the walls of the White House."

“We truly loved Russia and wished to restore order in the country. So that all people have equal rights and obligations, so that it is forbidden for everyone to break the law, regardless of position. We had no plans to escape abroad.”

“Forgive us. We also forgive everyone, even the boy soldiers who were sent to shoot at us. It's not their fault. But we will never forgive this diabolical gang that has sat on the neck of Russia. We believe that in the end our Motherland will be freed from this burden.”

15:30 Moscow time. Troops loyal to President Yeltsin resumed shelling the White House.

15:00 Moscow time. Special forces "Alpha" and "Vympel" were ordered to storm the White House. However, the command states that they will continue negotiations for some time, trying to convince the defenders of the building to surrender.

14:57 Moscow time. White House defenders say they have no idea what kind of snipers sat on the roof.

According to the former First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR Andrei Dunaev, a police officer was shot dead by a sniper in front of his eyes. “We ran to the roof, from where a shot was heard, but there was no one there. Judging by the way it all happened, neither the KGB nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs were to blame. Someone else did it, maybe even a foreign intelligence agent, ”Dunaev suggested.

14:55 Moscow time. One of the officers of the Alpha group was killed by a sniper.

“One of our fighters, a young lieutenant Gennady Sergeev, died. His group drove up to the White House in an infantry fighting vehicle. A wounded soldier was lying on the pavement, he had to be evacuated. However, at that very moment, a sniper shot Sergeyev in the back. But the shot wasn't from the White House, that's for sure. This shameful murder had only one goal - to provoke Alpha so that the fighters broke into the building and killed everyone there, ”said Gennady Zaitsev, commander of the Alpha group.

14:50 UTC Unidentified snipers fire indiscriminately into the crowd around the White House. Yeltsin's supporters, policemen, and ordinary people become targets for shots. Two journalists and a woman were killed, two soldiers were wounded.

14:00 Brief lull at the White House. Several of the building's defenders came out to surrender.

13:00: According to former people's deputy Vyacheslav Kotelnikov, there have already been many victims on different floors of the White House in Moscow.

“When I walked from one floor of the building to another, I was immediately struck by how much blood, dead and mutilated bodies were everywhere. Some of them were beheaded, others had their limbs cut off. These people died when tanks started firing at the White House. However, pretty soon this picture ceased to shock me, because I had to do my job.

12:00: The Public Opinion Foundation organized a telephone survey of Muscovites. As it turned out, 72% of respondents supported President Yeltsin, 9% were on the side of the parliament. 19% of the respondents refused to answer the questions.

11:40 a.m.: Due to the uncoordinated actions of the police cordons, several teenagers managed to break into the parking lot in front of the White House. Aggressive young people tried to take possession of the weapons thrown by the wounded. This was announced by the commander of the Taman division. Several cars were also stolen.

11:30 am: 192 injured needed medical attention. 158 of them were hospitalized, 19 subsequently died in hospitals.

11:25 a.m.: Heavy gunfire resumed in front of the building. The ceasefire agreement was violated. At the same time, people remained in the White House.

11:06: Crowds of people gathered on Smolenskaya Embankment and Novy Arbat to watch the storming of the Supreme Council. It was not possible to disperse onlookers of militia. According to photographer Dmitry Borko, there were many teenagers and women with children in the crowd. They stood in close proximity to the building and seemed not to care about their safety at all. 11:00 a.m.: A ceasefire is declared to allow women and children to leave the White House.

10:00 a.m.: White House defenders say there are many dead in the building as a result of tank fire.

“When the tanks started firing, I was on the 6th floor,” said one of the eyewitnesses of the events. - There were many civilians. All are unarmed. I thought that after the shelling, the soldiers would break into the building and tried to find some kind of weapon. I opened the door of the room where a shell had recently exploded, but I could not enter: everything was covered in blood and strewn with body fragments.

09:45: Supporters of President Yeltsin use megaphones to urge White House defenders to stop resistance. "Drop your weapons. Give up. Otherwise, you will be destroyed." These calls are repeated over and over again.

09:20: Tanks shell the upper floors of the White House from the Kalininsky Bridge (now the Novoarbatsky Bridge). Six T-80 tanks fired 12 volleys at the building.

“The first volley destroyed the conference room, the second - Khasbulatov's office, the third - my office,” said Alexander Rutskoi, former vice president and one of the leaders of the White House defenders. - I was in the room when a shell flew through the window. It exploded in the right corner of the room. Luckily my desk was in the left corner. I ran out in complete shock. I don't know how I even survived."

9:15 am: The Supreme Soviet is completely cordoned off by troops loyal to President Yeltsin. They also occupied several adjacent buildings. The building is constantly fired from machine guns.

09:05: President Boris Yeltsin broadcasts a televised address in which he called the events taking place in Moscow a "planned coup" organized by communist revanchists, fascist leaders, some former deputies, representatives of the Soviets.

“Those who are waving red flags have again stained Russia with blood. They hoped for surprise, that their arrogance and unparalleled cruelty would sow fear and confusion,” Yeltsin said.

The President assured the Russians that “the armed fascist-communist rebellion in Moscow will be suppressed in the shortest possible time. For this, the Russian state has the necessary forces.”

09:00: White House defenders return fire to shots from presidential supporters. As a result of the shelling, a fire started on the 12th and 13th floors of the building.

08:00: BMPs opened aimed fire on the White House.

07:50: Gunfire breaks out in a park adjacent to the White House.

07:45: Injured White House defenders and dead bodies are moved to one of the building's lobbies.

“I saw about 50 wounded. They lay in rows on the floor in the lobby. Most likely, there were also the bodies of the dead. The faces of those lying in the front rows were covered,” recalled Nikolai Grigoriev, a surgeon and former Minister of Health of Chuvashia, who actually directed the makeshift medical unit of the besieged Supreme Soviet.

07:35: White House security personnel are called to leave the building.

07:25: Five BMPs destroyed the barricades erected by the White House defenders and took up positions on the Free Russia Square - directly in front of the building.

07:00: Gunfire continues outside the White House. Police captain Alexander Ruban was mortally wounded, who was filming everything that was happening from the balcony of the Ukraine Hotel.

06:50: The first shots are heard near the White House in the center of Moscow.

“We were alerted at 06:45. Still sleepy, we ran out of the building and immediately came under fire. We lay down on the ground. Bullets and shells whistled just ten meters away from us, ”said one of the defenders of the White House, Galina N.

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 were in need of medical attention, 19 of whom later died in 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.

The head of the investigation team of the Prosecutor General's Office, Leonid Proshkin, who dealt with the 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 AEC-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: "Until 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 lecturer 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 policemen beat the detainees and then killed unknown persons "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.

The shooting of the White House in 1993. Chronicle of events

Editorial response

In the early years of the existence of the Russian Federation, the 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 of the 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.

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.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

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.