SO it happened. Perhaps we didn't cross our fingers properly. For the first time since the Civil War of 1918-1921 Russians were killing Russians in street battles. Hundreds of dead and wounded. Ruined houses. Mutilated corpses. Broken hopes. Uncertain future. What for? Just try and explain to the dead the benefits of free market as opposed to planned economy. The dead do not care.
Winners are not to be judged, a proverb goes. But are there any winners in the Moscow warfare? Despite the habitual euphoria in the Western press, both Yeltsin and the White (now rather black-and-white) House have lost their battles for Russia.
A bullet (to say nothing of a mortar shell) might be a powerful argument, but not a very convincing one.
Every shot, every burst of gunfire from both sides were the sounds of shattering defeat for the new-born Russian democracy.
I voted for this parliament in 1989. Indeed, 20 per cent of its seats were reserved by the communists, but the deputies for the remaining 80 were freely elected.
I even remember the name of the candidate I voted for - Andreev. He was neither a communist, nor a hardliner.
I also remember the feeling of joy and elation among the voters who, for the first time in their lives, were ''allowed'' to make their choice.