Aleksandr Rutskoy

Aleksandr Rutskoy (1947- ), Russian politician, who became the first popularly elected vice-president of Russia in 1991. Born in Khmel’nytskyy in western Ukraine, Rutskoy worked on an assembly line in an aircraft factory before starting a career in politics. He served in the army and was a commander of a fighter-bomber in the Afghan War. He helped to found the political organization Communists for Democracy, which changed its name to the People’s Party of Free Russia in 1991. He became the first popularly elected vice-president of Russia in the same year.

As vice-president, Rutskoy became an advocate of Russian military intervention in other former Soviet republics. He warned of discriminatory practices against Russians in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and he became a vocal supporter of Russian-led secession movements in areas such as the Trans-Dnestr region of Moldova and the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.

In 1992, as the economic crisis in Russia grew, Rutskoy became highly critical of official reform policies. He advocated a slow pace of economic reform and strongly recommended replacing the government of Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar with experienced factory managers. In 1993 Rutskoy began to criticize President Boris Yeltsin. Rutskoy publicly opposed Yeltsin’s special decree on presidential rule and his use of a referendum to gain popular approval of reform policies. Rutskoy alleged that Yeltsin had participated in various corrupt activities, including improperly allowing a firm to export material used in nuclear warhead production.

When Rutskoy refused to submit his resignation at Yeltsin’s request, Yeltsin stripped Rutskoy of all of his vice-presidential powers, including his credentials to receive foreign dignitaries. Protests by the Russian parliament and Constitutional Court Chairman Valeriy Zorkin failed to reinstate Rutskoy’s powers, although Rutskoy retained the title of vice-president. In September 1993 Yeltsin removed Rutskoy as vice-president on charges of corruption, an action opposed by the parliament. In the same month Yeltsin issued a decree dissolving parliament, which responded by declaring Rutskoy president. Many deputies obeyed Yeltsin’s order to disband, and about 100 deputies and several hundred armed supporters led by Rutskoy and speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov occupied the parliament building, also known as the White House. A tense stalemate between government and rebel forces lasted for several days. It was broken when rebel supporters staged an attack on the mayor’s office and a television centre. The government responded by shelling the White House and arresting the rebels. On October 4, 1993, Rutskoy was taken prisoner after surrendering and was charged with inciting mass disorder. He was hospitalized briefly, suffering from high blood pressure.

In January 1994 Rutskoy was cleared of all corruption charges—documents used as evidence against him had been forged. Charges against Rutskoy for the October uprising were dismissed by the newly elected State Duma in February 1994. Rutskoy was released from prison soon after the Duma’s decision, despite protests by Yeltsin and his supporters. In March 1994 Rutskoy repeated his proposal to recreate a union of the former Soviet republics. In the same month he helped form a political bloc of conservative parties opposing Yeltsin’s reforms. In February 1994 Rutskoy announced his intention to run for president in the next popular elections. After being expelled from his post as chair of the Social Democratic People’s Party in February 1995, he formed another political party, Derzhava, having announced his candidacy for the 1996 presidential elections. However, he failed to win a seat in the December 1995 parliamentary elections. In October 1996 he was elected as Governor of Kursk oblast, giving him a seat in the upper house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, despite official attempts to disqualify him as a non-resident of Kursk. He was prevented from standing for a second term in November 2000 when he was charged of falsifying tax returns.