In a couple of months, Petrograd Soviet, headed by Leon Trotsky, became an alternative power in the capital, hostile towards the Duma. It was clear that the Soviets were planning to overthrow the government. On 3 November Rutenberg became a member of the emergency Supreme Council, created by Kerensky to preserve order and justice. During an assault on the Winter Palace on 7 November, the night of the October Revolution, Rutenberg defended the government residence after Kerensky had escaped. When the Bolsheviks prevailed, he was arrested and put in jail, together with the "capitalist ministers".