Boris Yeltsin's legacy: mixed reviews
Many associate the former Russian president more with Russia's decline than with the USSR's demise.
from the April 24, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 2
Page 1 | 2
In 1993, violent confrontation with the elected Supreme Soviet left hundreds dead, and led Yeltsin to rewrite Russia's Constitution to create a much stronger presidency.
War against the separatist republic of Chechnya led to up to 100,000 dead, mostly civilians, and Russian defeat in 1996.
Elections in 1996 saw a visibly unwell Yeltsin reelected, amid allegations of voter manipulation and media corruption. The final years of Yeltsin's rule were marked by frequent absences due to ill-health, widespread allegations of inner-Kremlin corruption, and a catastrophic financial meltdown in 1998.
Since easing Putin into office seven years ago, Yeltsin – who is survived by his wife, Naina, and daughters Tatiana and Yelena – has kept a very low profile.
"Yeltsin gave our citizens freedom," said Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, Monday. "He himself loved it, and he loved our homeland. Remember what he told Putin when he left: He said, 'Protect Russia.' "
Reaction to Yeltsin's passing
"Life dictated that our fates crossed. Together in important posts, we had to solve problems linked with the changes that
were occurring in the country, democratic changes. We were able to do a lot, but we had serious differences — very big differences
that the forces against perestroika and changes took advantage of."
— Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
"He did a great deal to strengthen the democratic underpinnings of the Russia state — a very great deal."
— Eduard Shevardnadze, former Soviet foreign minister and former Georgian president.
"If not for the strong will of Boris Nikolayevich [Yeltsin], we cannot rule out that after Gorbachev, Russia could have plunged
— for many, many years or even decades — into civil war."
— Vyacheslav Kostikov, former Yeltsin press secretary.
"He wanted to build in Russia a market-oriented, democratic society. One can talk about whether he loved power or didn't love
power.... He — I am convinced of this — wanted Russia to be a market-oriented democracy with a democratic system of government."
— Yegor Gaidar, a former prime minister who oversaw the toughest economic reforms of the early 1990s.
"He brought an un-free country to freedom; from a country in which lies were simply routine, commonplace — from the general
secretary of the Communist Party to an ordinary meeting — to a country that is trying to live by the truth."
— Anatoly Chubais, a former top adviser who oversaw controversial privatization programs.
"He was an important figure in Russian history. No Americans, at least, will forget seeing him standing on the tank outside the White House (Russian parliament building at the time) resisting the coup attempt." — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, while on a visit to Moscow.
"Under new historic conditions, Boris Yeltsin made a great contribution toward harmonizing church-state relations, which opened
for the Orthodox people a new perspective toward ... establishing the might of our country on the basis of spiritual and moral
values and the centuries-old traditions of our people."
— Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
1 | Page 2
RSS feed
