1993 Russian constitutional crisis in the context of "Constitutional crisis"

The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation, is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

The modern incarnation of the office emerged from the president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the RSFSR, becoming the first non-Communist Party member to be elected into a major Soviet political role. He played a crucial role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union which saw the transformation of the RSFSR into the Russian Federation. Following a series of scandals and doubts about his leadership, violence erupted across Moscow in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. As a result, a new constitution was implemented and the 1993 Russian Constitution remains in force today. The constitution establishes Russia as a semi-presidential system which separates the president of Russia from the government of Russia which exercises executive power.

The White House (Russian: Белый дом, romanized: Belyy dom, IPA: [ˈbʲɛlɨj ˈdom]), officially the House of the Government of the Russian Federation (Russian: Дом Правительства Российской Федерации, romanized: Dom pravitelstva Rossiyskoi Federatsii), also known as the Russian White House and previously as the House of Soviets of Russia, is a government building in Moscow. It stands on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment. The building serves as the primary office of the government of Russia and is the official workplace of the prime minister.

It was built from 1965 to 1981 according to the design of architect Dmitry Chechulin to house the People's Control Committee and the Supreme Soviet of Russia. During the failed August 1991 coup attempt, the building became a center of resistance to the State Committee on the State of Emergency. The structure was badly damaged during the 1993 constitutional crisis and was subsequently repaired.

The 5th Squadron (Russian: пятая эскадра, translit. pyataya eskadra, was a squadron of the Soviet Navy.

The squadron was first established in 1963–64 during the Cold War. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) generally referred to it as the Soviet Mediterranean Fleet (Russian: Средиземноморский флот), as it was the primary adversary to the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet. Attached to the Russian Navy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the 5th Squadron was deactivated amid the downsizing of the Russian Armed Forces on 31 December 1992.

Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy (Russian: Александр Владимирович Руцкой; born 16 September 1947) is a Russian politician and former Soviet military officer who served as the only vice president of Russia from 1991 to 1993. He was proclaimed acting president following Boris Yeltsin's impeachment during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, in which he played a key role.

Born in Proskuriv, Ukraine (modern Khmelnytskyi), Rutskoy served with great distinction as an air force officer during the Soviet–Afghan War, for which he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In the 1991 Russian presidential election, he was chosen by Boris Yeltsin to be his vice-presidential running mate, but later became increasingly critical of Yeltsin's economic and foreign policies. In late September 1993, Yeltsin ordered the unconstitutional dissolution of the Russian parliament. In response, the parliament immediately annulled his decree, impeached him and proclaimed Rutskoy acting president. After a two-week standoff and popular unrest, Yeltsin ordered the military to storm the parliament building, arrested Rutskoy and formally dismissed him as vice president. He was imprisoned until early 1994, being released after the State Duma granted him amnesty.