A first-hand account of Yeltsin’s 1993 October massacre
By Bill Dores, Workers World
February 1994 - There seems to be a rift in Washington and on Wall Street about policy toward Russia.
As U.S. corporations grow impatient to make profits off the labor of workers in the former USSR, the Republicans call for a “tough approach” to the Yeltsin regime. The White House, on the other hand, fearing popular resistance to the restoration of capitalism, wants to give Yeltsin and his cohorts “room to maneuver.”
Richard Nixon has even been dispatched to Moscow in a transparent effort by the U.S. government to woo some of Yeltsin’s opponents. But, as former political prisoner Victor Anpilov of the Russian Communist Workers Party (RKRP) told Workers World, “The struggle in Russia is much deeper than it seems to the Clinton administration. Capitalism cannot be imposed on our country merely by maneuvers at the top with Yeltsin, Gaidar, etc. The obstacle is the opposition of the great masses of working people, and their movement is just beginning.”
Whatever their differences, Washington and Wall Street are united in their desire to crush the anti-capitalist movement in the former USSR. They all cheered last October when Yeltsin ordered a military assault on Russia’s elected Parliament and the coldblooded slaughter of hundreds of unarmed protesters.
And they all took part in the coverup that followed. Clinton called the October massacre a “triumph for democracy.” Time magazine called the workers murdered by Yeltsin a “ragtag mob of hooligans and extremists.” And nowhere in the U.S. media did the true story or the real death toll appear.
In February, Workers World went to Russia, where we spoke to workers and activists who participated in the October events. Among them was Vladimir Zapolsky, 37, a construction worker from the Udmurt Republic in the Ural mountains. He is a member of the RKRP.
When Yeltsin’s tanks attacked Parliament Zapolsky was critically wounded and lost his right arm. WW interviewed him in Leningrad, where he was undergoing medical treatment. This is his story.
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I am from the city of Izhek. I am a worker, a crane operator. I work in housing construction. I am married and have two children, a girl, 13, and a boy, 11.
In October, I heard that Yeltsin had imposed a siege on the parliament. I felt it was an unconstitutional coup. Yeltsin had no right to dissolve the parliament. Like many others, I decided to go to Moscow to defend the constitution.
In Moscow, we could not get near the House of Soviets, so we went to Capital Square for a rally. But the square was blockaded by OMON [Yeltsin’s special police]. When the crowd got larger, the police attacked us. For the first time I saw people beaten with clubs. It was a horrible experience. I had never before witnessed such brutality.
We regrouped for a march to parliament. Our column grew to tens of thousands of people. OMON attacked us with clubs and toxic gas but we broke their line. Many people were hurt on our side. When we reached the White House the OMON fled. I decided to stay and help protect the House of Soviets.
All night long we stood outside the parliament building. In the morning Yeltsin’s troops attacked with tanks and armored personnel carriers. They opened fire with machine guns on the thousands of unarmed people massed outside.
We tried to take cover but they were shooting at us from a distance of 20 meters. I was hit when the column of armored personnel carriers broke through the cordon of defenders. The bullet broke my arm and penetrated into my right lung. I lay there for several minutes watching people being shot point-blank as they lay on the ground. Then I passed out.
When I awoke I was being carried by four comrades. I was taken inside the parliament building. They took off my shirt and tried to give first aid to me and the other wounded. But ambulances couldn’t get through because of heavy gunfire from the tanks and APCs. Finally the defenders inside the White House got hold of some trucks and carried some of the wounded to a hospital.
In the hospital, I saw many people who had been wounded at the House of Soviets, many different kinds of wounds. Yeltsin’s claim that only 140 people killed is ludicrous.
Over 1,000 people were massed in front of the parliament. The majority were killed or wounded by automatic fire from the APCs. The distance between the APCs and the people was so short that they couldn’t miss. There were also snipers shooting at us with rifles.
At the hospital I again fell unconscious. When I came to, I had had two operations. The doctors were trying hard to save my life. I had lost 32 percent of my blood.
A week later my arm was amputated and my chest was opened for a lung operation. I have liver problems because of all the medication. I am now being treated at the Leningrad Institute for
Orthopedic Surgery. I am in a lot of pain, but I feel some progress.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the conditions of ordinary people in our country have deteriorated dramatically. Price increases have destroyed our living standards.
In 1980 when I got married I bought a television, a refrigerator, furniture—all the things needed for normal life. Today I would not be able to afford any of these things.
It used to be a simple matter for my family and me to take a vacation on the Black Sea. Now, it’s not affordable to us. It is not accidental that the death rate in our country has now surpassed the birth rate. It is the result of Yeltsin’s capitalist policies. Now this regime has shot unarmed people in cold blood.
The truth must be told because there is much false information about these events in our country and in yours. The media in both countries is controlled by the regime and the capitalist forces.
But practically everyone here now realizes what the Yeltsin regime is doing. I hope that the opposition will consolidate and this anti-people regime will soon be driven from power.
