Alexander Rutskoy
Encyclopedia
Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy (born 16 September 1947) is a Russia
n politician and a former Soviet
military officer. Rutskoy served as the only Vice President of Russia
from 10 July 1991 to 4 October 1993, and as the governor
of Kursk Oblast
from 1996 to 2000. In the course of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993
, he was proclaimed acting president of Russia
, in opposition to Boris Yeltsin
.
. Rutskoy graduated from High Air Force School in Barnaul
(1971) and Gagarin Air Force Academy
in Moscow (1980). He had reached rank of Colonel when he was sent to the Soviet war in Afghanistan
. He was in command of an air assault regiment
and was shot down twice, in 1986 and the second time in 1988 by an F-16 flown by Sqn. Ldr. Athar Bukhari of the Pakistan Air Force
. Rutskoy was then flying a Su-25 aircraft and strayed into Pakistani airspace
by mistake. He managed to eject but was captured by mujahideen, interrogated by the Inter-Services Intelligence
, given an offer to defect by the Central Intelligence Agency
, and subsequently released. For his bravery in 1988 he was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
. As a soldier and a populist, he was chosen by Boris Yeltsin
to be his vice presidential running mate in the 1991 Russian presidential election.
Rutskoy was vice president of Russia from 10 July 1991 to 4 October 1993. As vice president, he openly called for the independence of Transnistria
and Crimea
from Moldova
and Ukraine, respectively and telephoned Georgia
’s leader Eduard Shevardnadze
, threatening to bomb Tbilisi
during the war in South Ossetia.
"suspended" Rutskoy's execution of his vice-presidential duties, due to alleged corruption charges. The Russian Constitutional Court subsequently declared Yeltsin's decree as unconstitutional.
On 21 September 1993, President Boris Yeltsin
dissolved the Supreme Soviet of Russia
, which was in direct contradiction with the articles of Soviet Constitution
of 1978, e.g.:
On the night from 21 September to 22 September, Rutskoy arrived at the residence of the Russian parliament and, at 00:22, assumed the powers of acting president of Russia
, in accordance with the above article. He took the presidential oath, and said: "I am taking the authority of President. The anti-constitutional decree of President Yeltsin is annulled." Rutskoy's interim presidency, although constitutional, was never acknowledged outside Russia. After the two-week standoff, and the violence erupting on the streets of Moscow
, on 4 October, the Parliament building was taken by Yeltsin's military forces. Rutskoy and his supporters were arrested and charged with organization of mass disturbances. On the same day, Yeltsin officially dismissed Rutskoy as vice president
and fired him from the military forces. Rutskoy was imprisoned in the Moscow Lefortovo prison
until 26 February 1994, when he and other participants of both August 1991
and October 1993 crises, were granted amnesty by the new State Duma
.
Soon after his release, Rutskoy founded a populist, nationalist party Derzhava
(Russian: Держава), which, failed in the State Duma election of 1995, gathering only about 2.5% of the votes, thus not passing the 5% threshold. He decided not to run for the presidency in the summer of 1996, but did run for the position of the governor
of his native Kursk Oblast
in the fall of the same year. Being a joint candidate from the communist and "patriotic forces", he was initially banned from the election, but allowed to run by the Russian Supreme Court
only a few days before the election, which he won in a landslide, with about 76% of the vote. To this day, he is still active in Russian politics.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n politician and a former Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
military officer. Rutskoy served as the only Vice President of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
from 10 July 1991 to 4 October 1993, and as the governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kursk.-Geography:The oblast occupies the southern slopes of the middle-Russian plateau, and its average elevation is from 177 to 225 meters . The surface is hilly, and intersected by ravines...
from 1996 to 2000. In the course of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993
Russian constitutional crisis of 1993
The constitutional crisis of 1993 was a political stand-off between the Russian president and the Russian parliament that was resolved by using military force. The relations between the president and the parliament had been deteriorating for a while...
, he was proclaimed acting president of Russia
Acting President of the Russian Federation
The Acting President of the Russian Federation is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Russia. Acting President is a person who fulfills the duties of President of the Russian Federation when cases of incapacity and vacancy occur...
, in opposition to Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
.
Early life and career
Alexander Rutskoy was born in Proskuriv, Ukrainian SSR, USSRSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Rutskoy graduated from High Air Force School in Barnaul
Barnaul
-Russian Empire:Barnaul was one of the earlier cities established in Siberia. Originally chosen for its proximity to the mineral-rich Altai Mountains and its location on a major river, the site was founded by the wealthy Demidov family in the 1730s. In addition to the copper which had originally...
(1971) and Gagarin Air Force Academy
Gagarin Air Force Academy
Gagarin Air Force Academy is the name of a Russian military aviation academy located in Monino , Moscow Region.Gagarin Air Force Academy is one of the leading military educational institutions preparing high ranking military personnel for the Russian Air Force.Among the academy alumni are around...
in Moscow (1980). He had reached rank of Colonel when he was sent to the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. He was in command of an air assault regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
and was shot down twice, in 1986 and the second time in 1988 by an F-16 flown by Sqn. Ldr. Athar Bukhari of the Pakistan Air Force
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...
. Rutskoy was then flying a Su-25 aircraft and strayed into Pakistani airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
by mistake. He managed to eject but was captured by mujahideen, interrogated by the Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
, given an offer to defect by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, and subsequently released. For his bravery in 1988 he was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
. As a soldier and a populist, he was chosen by Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
to be his vice presidential running mate in the 1991 Russian presidential election.
Rutskoy was vice president of Russia from 10 July 1991 to 4 October 1993. As vice president, he openly called for the independence of Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
and Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
from Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
and Ukraine, respectively and telephoned Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
’s leader Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
, threatening to bomb Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
during the war in South Ossetia.
Russian constitutional crisis of 1993
Following the initial period of peaceful collaboration with Yeltsin, from the end of 1992, Rutskoy began openly declaring his opposition to the President's economic and foreign policies and accusing some Russian government officials of corruption. His opposition to Yeltsin became especially clear during the crisis in March, 1993 when the Congress of People's Deputies tried, unsuccessfully, to remove Yeltsin from the presidency. In subsequent months, Rutskoy himself was accused of corruption by the officials of Yeltsin's government. On September 1, 1993, President Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
"suspended" Rutskoy's execution of his vice-presidential duties, due to alleged corruption charges. The Russian Constitutional Court subsequently declared Yeltsin's decree as unconstitutional.
On 21 September 1993, President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
dissolved the Supreme Soviet of Russia
Supreme Soviet of Russia
The Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR , later Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation was the supreme government institution of the Russian SFSR in 1938–1990; in 1990–1993 it was a permanent parliament, elected by the Congress of People's Deputies of the Russian Federation.The Supreme Soviet of...
, which was in direct contradiction with the articles of Soviet Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of 1978, e.g.:
Article 121-6. The powers of the President of RSFSR cannot be used to change national and state organization of RSFSR, to dissolve or to interfere with the functioning of any elected organs of state power. In this case, his powers cease immediately.
On the night from 21 September to 22 September, Rutskoy arrived at the residence of the Russian parliament and, at 00:22, assumed the powers of acting president of Russia
Acting President of the Russian Federation
The Acting President of the Russian Federation is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Russia. Acting President is a person who fulfills the duties of President of the Russian Federation when cases of incapacity and vacancy occur...
, in accordance with the above article. He took the presidential oath, and said: "I am taking the authority of President. The anti-constitutional decree of President Yeltsin is annulled." Rutskoy's interim presidency, although constitutional, was never acknowledged outside Russia. After the two-week standoff, and the violence erupting on the streets of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, on 4 October, the Parliament building was taken by Yeltsin's military forces. Rutskoy and his supporters were arrested and charged with organization of mass disturbances. On the same day, Yeltsin officially dismissed Rutskoy as vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and fired him from the military forces. Rutskoy was imprisoned in the Moscow Lefortovo prison
Lefortovo prison
Lefortovo prison is a prison in Moscow, Russia, which, since 2005, has been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. It was built in 1881...
until 26 February 1994, when he and other participants of both August 1991
Soviet coup attempt of 1991
The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt , also known as the August Putsch or August Coup , was an attempt by a group of members of the Soviet Union's government to take control of the country from Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev...
and October 1993 crises, were granted amnesty by the new State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
.
Derzhava (Russian party)
Derzhava is a Russian populist, nationalist party founded by Alexander Rutskoy. It was originally created as a faction in the State Duma in the summer of 1994 by six members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia....
(Russian: Держава), which, failed in the State Duma election of 1995, gathering only about 2.5% of the votes, thus not passing the 5% threshold. He decided not to run for the presidency in the summer of 1996, but did run for the position of the governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of his native Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Kursk.-Geography:The oblast occupies the southern slopes of the middle-Russian plateau, and its average elevation is from 177 to 225 meters . The surface is hilly, and intersected by ravines...
in the fall of the same year. Being a joint candidate from the communist and "patriotic forces", he was initially banned from the election, but allowed to run by the Russian Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the Russian Federation
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is the court of last resort in Russian administrative law, civil law and criminal law cases. It also supervises the work of lower courts. Its predecessor is the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union....
only a few days before the election, which he won in a landslide, with about 76% of the vote. To this day, he is still active in Russian politics.