Copyright 1998 ABC-CLIO, Inc.  
Kaleidoscope

COUNTRY: Russia

PERSON: Aleksandr Rutskoy

HEADLINE: Biographies

 


Aleksandr Vladimirovich Rutskoy was vice president of Russia until he participated in an effort to oust President Boris Yeltsin in October 1993. In the fall of 1996 he won a seat to the upper house of Russia's parliament as the governor of Kursk, his home region.  


Maj. Gen. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Rutskoy was born in Kursk in 1947, the son and grandson of professional soldiers. He attended the Higher Air Force College, Gagarin Higher Air Force Academy, and the Academy of General Staff. During 1985-86 Rutskoy served as regimental commander in the Afghan War. He was a prisoner of war held by the mujaheddin, and on his release returned to the Soviet Union as a war hero. In 1988 he became deputy commander of the army air force. In the same year he was recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union.  


Rutskoy's political activity dates from 1989, although he was defeated in that year's elections. During 1990-91 he served as a people's deputy of the RSFSR (Russian republic) and as a member of the republic's Supreme Soviet. Rutskoy led the Communists for Democracy group, which was renamed the People's Party of Free Russia in October 1991. In 1991 he became the vice president of the RSFSR (now Russia), running on the ticket with Boris Yeltsin, who chose him because of his military experience. A hero of the resistance to the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt, Rutskoy raised the Russian flag at the barricades outside the White House (Russia's legislative building). From 1992 onward he was the leader of the Civic Union coalition directed at allying reformist communists.  


In December 1991 Rutskoy began attacking Yeltsin, criticizing his business and other policies, although he is reputed to possess limited understanding of such matters. After this, he was increasingly linked to conservatives, and in the fall of 1993 he allied with legislative leader Ruslan Khasbulatov in an effort to oust Yeltsin and reverse his reform programs. He was imprisoned after the uprising, but on Feb 23, 1994 he was released from prison and given a broad amnesty by the new Russian State Duma (legislature), which is dominated by former communists.  


[Sources: The Biographical Dictionary of the Former Soviet Union; Facts on File World News Digest; International Who's Who; The New York Times]

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 1998
Copyright © 1998 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.