Russia's Forgotten 1993 Revolution

For Russians, it was yet another dramatic confrontation which played out in the streets of Moscow, one which marked the growing frustration many people had with their elected President. The constitutional crisis of 1993 was a political stand-off between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Parliament that was resolved by military force. The relations between the President and the Parliament had been deteriorating for some time. The constitutional crisis reached a tipping point on September 21, 1993, when Yeltsin aimed to dissolve the countryâ??s legislature (the Congress of Peopleâ??s Deputies and its Supreme Soviet), although the president did not have the constitutional authority to do so. Yeltsin used the results of the referendum of April 1993 to justify his actions. In response, the Parliament declared that the Presidentâ??s decision was null and void, impeached Yeltsin and proclaimed Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoy to be acting President. The situation deteriorated further on October 3, when demonstrators removed police cordons around the Parliament and took over the Mayorâ??s offices and tried to storm the Ostankino television center.