Bely Dom (White House)

Bely Dom (White House) Review

This large, white, modern building perched along the riverbank is the headquarters of the Russian government and the prime minister. Before the August 1991 coup, the "White House" was the headquarters of the Russian Republic of the USSR. In October 1993 the building was shelled in response to the rioting and near-coup by Vice President Alexander Rutskoi and parliamentarians. They had barricaded themselves in the White House after Yeltsin's decision to dissolve parliament and hold new elections. Today the building is also known as the Dom Pravitelstvo, or Government House. It sits directly across the Moskva River from the Radisson Royal hotel, once the Ukraina, one of the seven "Stalin Gothic" skyscrapers built in Moscow in the mid-20th century.