Context, from History Channel:

Swan Lake and the deaths of political leaders

The years 1982, 1984 and 1985 all saw the deaths of Soviet leaders – Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, respectively.

In the period of potential political disturbance after each death, Russian TV began to play Swan Lake on a loop. While the goal was perhaps to distract and calm viewers, the ballet actually became associated with the deaths of leaders and with political instability.

In August 1991, Swan Lake again returned to Russian TV. But this time, it wasn’t signalling that someone had died.

Basically, Windows’ blue screen of death, but political instead.