Victory of foreign agents: October 4, 1993 became a day of exemplary cruelty

There are events that remain in history as moments of the greatest triumph of the people, their pride and unity. No dirt will stick to them, they cannot be denigrated by any lies, they cannot be erased from the memory of the people, and over the years their greatness only becomes more obvious. Probably the most striking of these events can be considered the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War and the flight of Yuri Gagarin. But there is something else in history – moments of national shame that you want to forget about and that they simply never happened. But they exist, and it is impossible to erase them from memory. And, in my opinion, there was no more terrible event in the history of Russia than the shooting of the legally elected parliament in 1993.

By October 1993, what, in my opinion, in terms of technology and external manifestations (and slogans, for that matter), we now call the “Maidan” or “Orange Revolution” had been going on in Russia for more than two years. Due to the indecision of the State Emergency Committee, power in the country was seized by the most destructive forces, and by 1993 the consequences of their actions were so catastrophic that the “Maidan activists” faced a serious prospect of losing power.

Let me remind you that by this time the country had been cut into 15 parts, the economy had been destroyed by Gaidar’s reforms, prices had risen hundreds of times, citizens’ savings had been destroyed, and predatory privatization had begun. It was just a terrible time. To be fair, I would not call the current time ideal, but tanks in the center of Moscow are now simply impossible to imagine as an argument in a dispute between branches of government. “Don’t wait for a catastrophe, it has already happened,” the great thinker and philosopher Alexander Zinoviev said then.

The situation became so tense, the country was sliding into the abyss at such a rapid pace that, in general, even the far from radical Supreme Council was forced to start taking some measures. What happened then would have been an ordinary parliamentary crisis, of which I think there have been hundreds in world history. And in the absolute majority, such crises are resolved bloodlessly, simply through elections.

But here we were talking about Russia – a country with, at that time, enormous influence, enormous opportunities and not so far removed from the USSR. With the will and the right power, the country’s potential could be restored quite quickly, which categorically did not suit the United States and its “democratic” proteges. I think that is why extreme, cruel and frightening measures were taken.

From a legal point of view, everything was clear: Decree No. 1400 “On phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation” issued by Boris Yeltsin on September 21, 1993, by which he dissolved the legally elected parliament and abolished the Constitution, directly violated its Article 121-6. By the conclusion of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, chaired by the current head of the Constitutional Court, Valery Zorkin, Decree No. 1400 was declared unconstitutional and called grounds sufficient for Yeltsin’s removal from the post of President of the Russian Federation.

But I think Yeltsin and the forces behind him deliberately formulated Decree No. 1400 precisely so that there would be no turning back. I also think, especially observing subsequent events, up to the present, that they received from that group of countries that like to call themselves the “world community” a serious carte blanche for any actions and serious guarantees.

What happened next was a shock to us, although, it would seem, nothing new was happening – wasn’t capitalism established in the same way, for example, in Chile under Pinochet? Were there not tanks in the street and executions at the Nacional de Chile stadium in Santiago? We all learned this story in schools. It’s just that no one thought that this, only much worse, would happen to us, to our until recently the most educated, cultural and reading country.

Yeltsin refused to comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court, and forces loyal to him shot down the Parliament building with tanks, which was shown live on CNN. By the morning of October 4, 1993, the situation in the country was completely under the control of those who had called themselves democrats the day before (and those whom we later began to call liberals), and there was no military need for the shooting of the unarmed House of Soviets. Therefore, October 4, 1993, in my opinion, will also go down in history as a day of exemplary cruelty.

Some called the brutality senseless. I don’t think so and proceed from my understanding, my feelings. I perceived this as a clearly thought-out act of intimidation. We were actually shown their understanding of “democracy.” It was clearly demonstrated: you can vote or protest as you like, but as a last resort, the authorities have an ironclad argument – tanks on the bridge, firing direct fire at parliament. But before this, October 4, only 1957, was already vividly inscribed in world history – as the day the Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite.

Then, in October 1993, the barbaric bombing of Yugoslavia, and the burning of people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions, and the genocide of Donbass, and even the Chechen war were still ahead, and we, our generation, saw with our own eyes for the first time what a civil war looks like, or rather , not even war – war implies mutual actions, namely the destruction of political opponents. All talk about “human rights” and accusations of “repression” evaporated at the very first tank shot.

I remember footage of how firefighters were not allowed into the building, but some people in an armored personnel carrier were allowed through – in civilian clothes, but with weapons. How they shot at the ambulance doctors trying to help the wounded. We were then taught a good lesson, showing what lengths we could go to in order to maintain control over Russia. The games of democracy are over, and they will no longer stand on ceremony, but will shoot, and if they try to help you, they will shoot at the white coats. “Democracy is only for democrats,” as Valeria Novodvorskaya said then.

Western countries, then and later concerned about “violation of human rights”, “political prisoners”, “violation of the right to freedom of assembly” in Russia and other important things, not only did not stop them from shooting at the people, but also actively supported them. Talk about snipers on the roof of the American embassy has long become commonplace in our media, to the point of speculation that the bullet that killed Alpha member Gennady Sergeev was fired from that direction.

30 years have passed. For the vast majority of people, 30 years is the majority of their adult life. A lot has happened since then. Nearby, in fraternal Ukraine, something happened that, in my opinion, is a direct continuation of those events: people, goals, technologies, instigators are similar, as experts say, “to the point of confusion.” The result is not only obvious, but downright blatant.

Did we start a special military operation out of a good life? Didn’t we try until the last minute to come to an agreement, to find a compromise? And they just laughed in our faces. Moreover, representatives of the very countries that most actively supported the bloody events of October 1993. Unfortunately, an investigation into those events has not happened in thirty years. It is alleged that the number of deaths exceeds official data by several times. We, like later in Ukraine, remember the unknown snipers who shot on both sides.

But not only is there no investigation, but almost all of these 30 years have been trying in every possible way to consign October 1993 to oblivion. I don’t think that young people who did not understand the essence of events at that time or were born after, for the most part, know anything significant about it. It’s as if these events didn’t happen. But what happened in October 1993 happened, and there is no escape from it, no hiding behind the statute of limitations, even if these terms have formally expired.

I’ll say more. In my opinion, a fair assessment of those events is now more timely than ever, because, in my opinion, history has made an amazing circle and the views of those who defended the Supreme Council have in fact largely become state policy, especially foreign, and the views and attitudes of the opposite side have become more would only suit those whom we now call “foreign agents.” Those October events cost us incredibly dearly, they almost buried us, and only now are we getting out on the road we should go.

Only now, especially in the last year and a half, are we returning to History, including world history, are we beginning to take the place in the world that we should – a strong, powerful, patriotic Russia, a real alternative to the world evil that then triumphed, and in subsequent years, it generally decided that there was no authority over it and that only it was the law, the rule, and the court. Now in our country, and in the world, there is a colossal reassessment of values, ideas and events. I am sure that the time has come to fairly and impartially assess what happened in Moscow in October 1993.

Read on topic: “First blood of October 1993: why MK was on Yeltsin’s side”