My First Political Rally - September 26, 1993 - Moscow

With affairs in Russia again in turmoil and people taking to the streets (a recent article is here), I am lately reminded of the turbulent weeks in Moscow in the fall of 1993.

Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife (I think)

On September 26, 1993, Mstislav Rostropovich conducted a concert - the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovasky - on Red Square.   The pictures on the left hand side were taken by me that morning.

Early in the morning, my roommate and I took the metro to Red Square in order to be sure not to miss any of the festivities. It was a crisp, cold fall morning in Moscow. Cold, but beautiful. Lots of sun with large clouds throughout the sky. The concert was wonderful, and we did get to see Rostropovich up close before the concert while he was being interviewed by countless media. 

I found out later that night that my sister, who at the time was living with my mother in Cincinnati, saw me on CNN.  When my mother asked if my sister was sure that it was me, my sister responded, "How many people in Moscow have that West Virginia Mountaineers hat?"  It was a hat that I had worn every winter since I was ten years old.

Boris Yeltsin was also at the concert.  Yeltsin was seated near the front of the crowd, and we could see him from a distance.  I was struck by the lack of security surrounding Yeltsin.  While we were moving towards him, I was thinking that there would be no way that the president of the USA would be in a crowd like that sitting among the people without a substantial secret service presence.  I am sure that there was security for Yeltsin there, but I just never saw them.  We were able to worm our way through the crowd to get within fifty yards from him.  I have a picture somewhere, but I just cannot find it.

St. Basil's Cathedral from Red Square

While we were navigating through the crowd, the cannons which were part of the concert (1812 Overture) were fired.  I was so focused on getting closer to Yeltsin that when the cannons were fired, it scared me half to death.

While we enjoyed a festive and inspiring concert on Red Square, we forgot that Russia was on the verge of imploding and Yeltsin was fighting to keep control of the government.

"The power is out, there's no water and the toilets don't flush. The people claiming to be the legitimate rulers of Russia spend their days shivering in dimly-lit rooms and their nights curled up on tables or the floor."




"Inside Russia's cavernous parliament building, where Boris Yeltsin's increasingly desperate opponents have been hunkered down for five days, the mood was decidedly grim on Saturday, and conditions were growing more unbearable."

"The dwindling crowd of anti-Yeltsin protesters outside continued to fret about an armed assault by security forces aimed at clearing out the parliament building, where hundreds of die-hard legislators and their supporters are defying the president's order to disperse."

The concert with the Kremlin in the background

The rest of this contemporaneous article from the Chicago Tribune is here.  Some more background on the 1993 Russian Constitutional Crisis is here.

After the concert, we heard people discussing a political rally in support of Yeltsin.  People were gathering just north of Red Square, and they were going to march from Red Square to the mayor's office.  So, out of curiosity, we gathered with the hundreds (maybe thousands) of Moscovites and marched to the mayor's office.

While we marched down Tverskaya people waved Russian flags.  People shouted from the crowd and from the windows above, "Yeltsin, we are with you!"  After a while, some of our fellow marchers marked me as an American, and I was very nervous about how they would react.  To my surprise and relief, they were excited to have Americans in their presence.  I could sense the pride in the Russian people with whom I was marching that they could finally speak out loud without fear.  My roommate, in particular who is an American of Russian descent, voiced his pride in his heritage.   When we arrived at the mayor's office, the speeches started. 

The sound system was horrible and my Russian skills were not yet up to speed, so I really do not know about that which the speakers lectured, but it was exciting nevertheless to sit under the statue of  Yuri Dolgoruky and watch history happen right before my eyes.  It was a great and joyful moment for me to participate with and be welcomed by the Russian citizens as they exercised their God-given rights.

As we would see a few hours later, the scene on the other side of town around the Russian parliament building was completely different.