Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991 TAG: 9103280555
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
People hung out of windows and stood on phone booths, trucks and kiosks, but police prevented the demonstrators from approaching Manezh Square, which is adjacent to the Kremlin.
"I'm not afraid. We should march forward, regardless. I've come to demonstrate here tonight because I cannot go on living like this any more," said Natasha, a 32-year-old engineer who refused to give her last name.
Earlier, dozens of people broke through light metal barricades on Manezh Square, shouting "Yeltsin! Yeltsin!" and "Gorbachev Resign!"
Riot police with helmets and shields later cleared them away. Police, Interior Ministry troops and other law enforcement personnel lined Tverskaya Street, which leads into the square.
The demonstrators massed despite Gorbachev's refusal to lift his ban on demonstrations. Instead, he sent troops and water cannons into the streets to face the supporters of Yeltsin, the leader of the Russian Federation.
Hundreds of military vehicles surrounded the Kremlin and other parts of central Moscow, some unloading thousands of helmeted troops.
About 90 trucks, including one equipped with a water cannon, were parked at one end of Red Square, near the famed St. Basil's Cathedral.
Other water cannons were stationed closer to Manezh Square.
Earlier in the day, Russian lawmakers voted to ignore the ban on rallies in Moscow.
The events threatened to develop into the most serious confrontation between reformers allied with Yeltsin and hard-line Communist Party, military and KGB officials lining up behind Gorbachev.
Yeltsin urged lawmakers in the Russian republic to join with demonstrators.
Mikhail Bocharov, one of Yeltsin's top economic aides, predicted that 1 million people would march on the Kremlin come evening.
He told reporters at a special session of the Russian parliament that he thought the march would be peaceful, and that lawmakers would march at its head. People have been told to run if soldiers attack, Bocharov said.
Yeltsin supporters appeared in command at the parliamentary session, which was called by hard-liners seeking a vote of no confidence against Yeltsin, the 60-year-old populist.
"In the days preceding the congress, I predicted the worst [outcome], somewhat better and the ideal," Yeltsin told reporters after the vote on the demonstration ban. "Today we saw the ideal."
The congress, meeting in a Kremlin hall, approved by a 532-286 vote with 93 abstentions a resolution rejecting as unconstitutional the three-week ban on rallies in Moscow ordered by Gorbachev's Cabinet on Monday.
As it did, police outside enforced the order by dispersing dozens of pro-democracy activists, arresting about six.
After the vote, a Yeltsin emissary hurried over to Gorbachev's office to appeal to him to remove the thousands of Soviet troops and police flooding into the city center in anticipation of the demonstration.
The emissary, Ruslan Khasbulatov, said Gorbachev rejected the appeal but promised to withdraw the troops and police on Friday. Gorbachev has said repeatedly that laws and decrees from the central government override those of the 15 Soviet republics, including Russia.
Yeltsin told deputies they should flex their muscles.
"If we say we have power, let's display it. Let the Russian Interior Ministry ensure order today and we will answer for it and let deputies participate in the demonstration to guarantee it," Yeltsin said.
by CNB