Russia's Black October | Explosive Footage of Moscow Street Battles | Archive Documentary (1993)

Video Description

On 21 September 1993, amid mounting political tensions, Russian President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the country’s parliament, the Supreme Soviet, and announced that he would rule by decree pending new elections. In doing so, he triggered a constitutional crisis which culminated in the deadliest street fighting in Moscow since the October Revolution of 1917. Widely regarded as an unconstitutional act, Yeltsin’s dissolution of Parliament provoked fierce resistance from Vice President Alexander Rutskoy and Supreme Soviet Chairman Ruslan Khasbulatov. This standoff escalated into mass protests, armed clashes in Moscow’s streets, and, ultimately, military intervention in favour of Yeltsin. This documentary offers a day-by-day record of the Russian Constitutional Crisis of 1993, a pivotal episode in the political evolution of post-Soviet Russia. Drawing on original news footage from the ITN Archive, it chronicles the period from President Boris Yeltsin’s controversial decree of 21 September 1993, to the violent storming of the Russian White House on 4 October 1993. The footage of the storming of the Russian White House was captured by ITN cameramen Jon Steele and Eugene Campbell, whose work was recognised with a 'Cameraman of the Year' award from the Royal Television Society and a shared BAFTA for factual television photography. Steele's voice can be heard at several points in the footage. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:13 1. Crisis (21 September - 1 October 1993) 00:31:05 2. Confrontation (2–3 October 1993) 01:18:21 3. Storming of the Russian White House (4 October 1993) 02:17:26 4. Aftermath (5–7 October 1993) #RussianConstitutionalCrisis #BorisYeltsin #SupremeSoviet #AlexanderRutskoy #RuslanKhasbulatov #RussianWhiteHouse #BlackOctober #Soviet #PostSoviet #SovietWave #Crisis #StreetBattles #Moscow #History #WorldHistory #Yeltsin #CivilWar #Communism #Communist #SovietUnion #Russia #RussianFederation #Democracy #ColdWar #PostColdWar #1990s #StormingOfTheRussianWhiteHouse To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/film?begindate=1993-09-20&enddate=1993-10-06&family=editorial&phrase=RUSSIA%20ITN&recency=daterange&sort=best To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage/itn 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - https://www.youtube.com/@ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ITNArchive 🎥 Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ITNArchiveITNP 🎥 Check out our TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@itnarchive1955