Russia (RUS)Eastern Europe, EuropeSeptember 21, 1993
Event Summary
On September 21, 1993 Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree dissolving the parliament, an act the parliament and Constitutional Court deemed unconstitutional, precipitating a two-week standoff that ended when Yeltsin ordered the army to shell the parliament building in early October. Yeltsin had been locked in a power struggle with the Congress of People's Deputies and Supreme Soviet, led by speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and backed by Vice President Alexander Rutskoy. On September 21, 1993 Yeltsin issued Decree 1400 dissolving the legislature and calling new elections, assuming rule by decree.
The parliament refused to disperse, declared Yeltsin removed, and swore in Rutskoy as acting president; deputies and armed supporters barricaded themselves in the White House. After violence escalated, Yeltsin sent tanks to bombard the building on October 4, 1993, and the resistance was crushed with significant loss of life. The dataset dates this September 21, 1993 and codes the fate as not physically harmed.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The September 21, 1993 dissolution decree targeted the Russian parliament and its leaders (speaker Khasbulatov and the rival acting-president claimant Rutskoy), who were arrested after the October shelling but not killed; the dataset codes an auto-coup with a not-physically-harmed fate.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Boris Yeltsin (president who dissolved parliament)
Ruslan Khasbulatov (parliament speaker who resisted)
Alexander Rutskoy (vice president sworn in by parliament as rival)
Sources
In September and October 1993 a constitutional crisis arose in the Russian Federation from a conflict between President Boris Yeltsin and the country's parliament, Yeltsin performed a self-coup dissolving parliament and instituting rule by decree, and the crisis ended with Yeltsin using military force to attack Moscow's House of Soviets and arrest the lawmakers, events known in Russia as the October Coup or Black October.
Throughout 1992 and into 1993 Yeltsin wrestled with the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies for control over government policy, with the speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov coming out in opposition, and in mid-March 1993 the Congress voted to amend the constitution and strip Yeltsin of many of his powers.
On 20 March Yeltsin addressed the nation on television declaring he had signed a decree on a special regime under which he would assume extraordinary executive power pending a referendum, and the Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin, the Supreme Soviet vice-chairman, Alexander Rutskoy, and the Prosecutor-General publicly condemned the declaration as unconstitutional.
The eighth Congress of People's Deputies opened with a strong attack on the president by Khasbulatov who accused Yeltsin of acting unconstitutionally, and the ninth congress took up discussions of emergency measures including impeachment of President Yeltsin.
Coding note and dataset examination: the dataset labels this an auto-coup with a not-physically-harmed fate, dated September 21, 1993. It is the classic self-coup: the sitting president Boris Yeltsin, rather than being deposed, dissolved the parliament by Decree 1400 on September 21, 1993 and assumed rule by decree, overriding the legislature and the Constitutional Court, both of which declared the move unconstitutional. Who is coded deposed: not a single leader but the parliament and its leadership, notably speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, whom the deputies swore in as a rival acting president. The not-physically-harmed fate reflects that these leaders, though defeated and arrested after the October shelling, were not killed. Comparison recorded: this is the third auto-coup in the recent enrichment run (with Algeria June 1991 and Peru April 1992, both batch 42), the incumbent seizing extra power. Mass-violence context handled with care and cited: the standoff ended on October 3 to 4, 1993 when Yeltsin ordered tanks to shell the White House, crushing the resistance with significant loss of life (official figures around 147, with some estimates higher); these figures are recorded per their sources rather than adjudicated. Contested subject handled neutrally: Yeltsin's supporters framed it as necessary to break a reactionary parliament's obstruction while critics called it an unconstitutional coup; both framings are recorded. Aftermath: a new constitution greatly strengthening the presidency was approved in December 1993, later context. Neutrality maintained.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The September 21, 1993 dissolution decree targeted the Russian parliament and its leaders (speaker Khasbulatov and the rival acting-president claimant Rutskoy), who were arrested after the October shelling but not killed; the dataset codes an auto-coup with a not-physically-harmed fate..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Boris Yeltsin, democrat: Dissolving Parliament Might Seem Autocratic, but the record shows otherwise; RUSSIA; ELECTIONS ARE A TEST FOR YELTSIN: [FINAL Edition],” September 25, 1993
Globe and Mail
“Yeltsin throws Russia in crisis Parliament ousts President after he abolishes it in power struggle,” September 22, 1993
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →