The House of Soviets of Russia, just before May Day, 1988. The building became better known as the Russian White House following the August Coup of 1991 and was badly damaged by tank fire in 1993 during the Russian constitutional crisis but has since been restored. The Baroque "wedding cake" style building in the background is Kudrinskaya Square Building, one of the so-called "Seven Sisters" commissioned by Joseph Stalin as part of a plan to modernize Moscow immediately following World War II. Another of the Seven Sisters, the Hotel Ukraina, faces the White House across the Moskva River.