From Reflections: Photographs from the Moscow Times (1992-2002): Storming of the White House

This photograph depicts Russian soldiers attacking the Russian ‘White House’ on the orders of then President Boris Yeltsin. The Russian parliament meeting there in 1993 was strongly opposed to President Yeltsin’s government and policies. Just a year earlier Yeltsin had began his ‘Shock Therapy’ program to rapidly privatize Russia and in the year this photograph was taken a new Russian constitution would be passed giving along with a referendum calling for early elections both measures that would give Yeltsin unprecedented control over the Russian government. The use of force against the Russian Parliament symbolizes Yeltsin’s ‘blowing away of opposition.’ The storming of parliament shows Yeltsin’s victory in the struggle between parliament and the presidency over who would take precedence and greater control in the new Russian constitution and government.
President Putin, Yeltsin’s hand-picked successor, led a government perceived by Western Powers as anti-democratic and bordering on authoritarianism. Putin, under the Constitution supported by Yeltsin, had significant control over parliament and opposition parties in government and was a former member of the KGB. Today, President Dimitry Medvedev retains that power under the Russian Constitution and is allied with Putin, the current prime minister of Russia. In 2008, an amendment to the Russian Constitution lengthened the presidential term from four to six years and lengthened the congressional term from four to five years. Opposition parties in Russia were unable to prevent the signing of the amendment or to gain the year long discussion of the amendment that they felt was required by law. Russian Opposition Parties significantly sighted the lack of a constitutional court like the U.S. Supreme Court as one obstacle to fairly abiding by the laws of government and further allowing the Russian President power over the Russian parliament and government. (Chap. 31 Art)

Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1113655.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6584481.stm
http://www.answers.com/topic/constitution-of-1993
http://www.answers.com/topic/referendum-of-april-1993
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/30/AR2008123000839.html
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/reflections/reflect-exhibit.html