White House

Moscow’s White House, scene of two crucial episodes in recent Russian history, stands just north of Novoarbatsky most. It was here that Boris Yeltsin rallied the opposition that confounded the 1991 hard-line coup, then two years later sent in tanks and troops to blast out conservative rivals, some of them the same people who backed him in 1991. The images of Yeltsin climbing on a tank in front of the White House in 1991, and of the same building ablaze after the 1993 assault, are among the most unforgettable from those tumultuous years. These days, things are relatively stable around the White House, where Prime Minister Putin now has his office. The White House – officially called the House of Government of the Russian Federation (Dom pravitelstva Rossiyskoy federatsii) – fronts a stately bend in the Moscow River, with the Stalinist Hotel Ukraina rising on the far bank. This corner of Moscow is particularly appealing when these buildings and Novoarbatsky most are lit up at night.