(b. Groznyi, Chechnya, 22 Nov. 1942) Chechen; Speaker of the Russian Parliament 1991 – 3, Opposition leader in Chechnya 1994 – 6 Coming from a family exiled to northern Kazakhstan under Stalin, he was educated at Kazan and Moscow universities as an economist and, after working in production in Alma-Ata, became an academic. He is a doctor of economic sciences, professor, and author of many academic works. He taught economics at the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy in Moscow 1979 – 90, where he headed a department. He was a party member 1966 – 91.

In 1990 he was elected to the Russian Republic Supreme Soviet, becoming Deputy Speaker. In October 1991 he was elected Speaker (President) of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation. Initially a supporter of Yeltsin, he became his implacable opponent, leading the opposition to Yeltsin's economic reforms and style of government and asserting the rights of parliament. In October 1993 he was arrested when the parliament was stormed. Later charges were dropped and he returned to Chechnya as a leader of the Opposition to Dudayev, but, though he denounced the methods of the Russian invasion, he failed to gain credibility as an alternative leader, and early in 1996 returned to Moscow to teach at the Plekhanov Institute.

(b. 1942), economist, Russian legislator.

Ruslan Khasbulatov studied at Kazakh State University and Moscow State University (MGU), where he was active in the Komsomol and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1966. He earned a doctorate in economics from MGU in 1970. Khasbulatov spent the 1970s and 1980s working at the Academy of Sciences's Institute of Scientific Information and the Scientific Research Institute for Questions of Secondary Schools. He transferred to the Plekhanov Institute for Economic Management in 1979, eventually becoming chair of the division of Economy of Foreign Countries.

In 1990 Khasbulatov was elected to the first RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) Congress of People's Deputies. When the Congress elected Yeltsin as chair, he picked Khasbulatov as his first deputy (May 1990). Following Yeltsin's election to the newly created Russian presidency, Khasbulatov became speaker of parliament (October 1991).

Khasbulatov opposed the amount of power that devolved to Yeltsin after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He also opposed Yeltsin's economic policy of shock therapy and the privatization campaigns. As Yeltsin's team drafted a new Russian constitution, Khasbulatov spearheaded a parliamentary effort to reduce Yeltsin's authority and more equitably redistribute powers between the Russian executive and legislative branches.

The power struggle culminated in Yeltsin's dissolution of parliament in September 1993. Led by Khasbulatov and Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoi, legislators barricaded themselves in the parliamentary building. Yeltsin responded by firing on the building the night of October 3 - 4, 1993. Khasbulatov was led from the building in handcuffs and sent to prison. In February 1994, the Russian State Duma amnestied Khasbulatov along with all the participants in the parliamentary rebellion.

An ethnic Chechen, Khasbulatov became involved in the domestic politics of the rebellious republic. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 1996 and has been involved in negotiations to end the second Chechen war. As of 2003, Khasbulatov teaches at the Plekhanov Institute in Moscow.

Bibliography

Dunlop, John B. (1993). The Rise of Russia and the Fall of the Soviet Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

—ANN E. ROBERTSON

1942–, Russian politician. A Chechen from the Caucasus region, he was an academic economist in Moscow before his election (1990) to the Russian Congress of People's Deputies and parliament. A supporter of Boris Yeltsin, he served as his deputy (1990–91) and was elected chairman (speaker) of the congress and parliament in 1991. Increasingly critical of Yeltsin's economic program after 1991, he, along with Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi, led Russian legislators in their power struggle with Yeltsin in Oct., 1993. He was imprisoned after parliament's attempt to oust Yeltsin was crushed by the army, but was released (1994) in an amnesty. He was then active in Chechen politics, advocating limited sovereignty for Chechnya. In 1995 he considered running for the Chechen presidency but withdrew, criticizing the timing and fairness of the vote.

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