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| caption = Official portrait, {{circa|1991–1993}}
| order = <!-- Russia does not use succession numbers for political offices, such as "1st", thus please do not alter without prior talk page consensus -->
| office = [[President of Russia]]
| vicepresident = [[Alexander Rutskoy]] {{nowrap|(1991–1993)}}
| primeminister = {{plainlist|
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| birth_place = [[Butka, Russia|Butka]], [[Ural Oblast (1923–1934)|Ural Oblast]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], Soviet Union
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2007|04|23|1931|02|01}}
| death_place = [[Moscow]], Russia
| death_cause = [[Heart failure|Congestive heart failure]]
| resting_place = [[Novodevichy Cemetery]], Moscow, Russia
| nationality = [[Soviet nationality law|Soviet]] (1931–1991)<br />[[Russian nationality law|Russian]] (1991–2007)
| party = {{plainlist|
* [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (1961–1990)
* [[Independent (politician)|Independent]] (after 1990)
}}
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Naina Yeltsina|Naina Girina]]|1956}}
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| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Борис Николаевич Ельцин Новогоднее обращение к народу 1999 г.ogg|title=Boris Yeltsin's voice|type=speech|description=Yeltin's 1999 New Year's address and resignation speech<br/>Recorded 31 December 1999}}
| footnotes = {{Collapsible list
| title = Central institution membership
| bullets = on
| 1986–1988: Candidate member, [[26th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]], [[27th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|27th]] Politburo
| 1985–1986: Member, [[26th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] Secretariat
| 1981–1990: Full member, [[26th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]], [[27th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|27th]] Central Committee
}}
----
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}}
{{Yeltsin sidebar}}
'''Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin'''{{family name footnoteefn|Nikolayevich|Yeltsin|lang=Eastern Slavic}} ({{lang-ru|Борис Николаевич Ельцин}}, {{IPA-|ru|bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn|IPA|Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg}};}}{{family name footnote|Nikolayevich|Yeltsin|lang=Eastern Slavic}} (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the [[Presidentpresident of Russia]] from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1961 to 1990. He later stood as a [[Independent politician|political independent]], during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with [[Liberalism in Russia|liberalism]].
 
Yeltsin was born in [[Butka, Russia|Butka]], [[Ural Oblast (1923–1934)|Ural Oblast]]. He grew up in [[Kazan]] and [[Berezniki]]. After studying at the [[Ural State Technical University]], he worked in construction. After joining the Communist Party, he rose through its ranks, and in 1976 he became First Secretary of the party's [[Sverdlovsk Oblast]] committee. Yeltsin was initially a supporter of the ''[[perestroika]]'' reforms of Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]. He later criticized the reforms as being too moderate, and called for a transition to a [[Multi-party system|multi-party]] [[representative democracy]]. In 1987 he was the first person to resign from the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], which established his popularity as an anti-establishment figure. In 1990, he was elected chair of the [[Supreme Soviet of Russia|Russian Supreme Soviet]] and in 1991 was [[1991 Russian presidential election|elected]] president of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR), becoming the first popularly-elected head of state in Russian history. Yeltsin allied with various non-Russian [[nationalism|nationalist]] leaders, and was instrumental in the formal [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in December of that year. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the RSFSR became the Russian Federation, an independent state. Through that transition, Yeltsin remained in office as president. He was later reelected in the [[1996 Russian presidential election|1996 election]], which was claimed by critics to be pervasively corrupt.
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=== 1985: relocation to Moscow to become Head of Gorkom ===
[[File:Gorbachev (cropped).png|thumb|left|The reformer [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] took office as the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985; he soon promoted Yeltsin to a job in Moscow.]]
 
Gorbachev was interested in reforming the Soviet Union and, at the urging of [[Yegor Ligachyov]], the organisational secretary of the Central Committee, soon summoned Yeltsin to meet with him as a potential ally in his efforts.{{sfn|Colton|2008|p=109}} Yeltsin had some reservations about Gorbachev as a leader, deeming him controlling and patronising, but committed himself to the latter's project of reform.{{sfn|Colton|2008|pp=110, 118}} In April 1985, Gorbachev appointed Yeltsin head of the Construction Department of the Party's Central Committee. Although it entailed moving to the capital city, Yeltsin was unhappy with what he regarded as a demotion.{{sfn|Colton|2008|pp=111–112}}<ref>Leon Aron, ''Boris Yeltsin A Revolutionary Life''. Harper Collins, 2000. p. 132. {{ISBN?}}</ref> There, he was issued a [[nomenklatura]] flat at 54 Second Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street, where his daughter [[Tatyana Yumasheva|Tatyana]] and her son and husband soon joined him and his wife.{{sfn|Colton|2008|p=112}} Gorbachev soon promoted Yeltsin to secretary of the Central Committee for construction and capital investment, a position within the powerful [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU Central Committee Secretariat]], a move approved by the Central Committee plenum in July 1985.<ref name="Leon Aron 2000. page 739">Leon Aron, ''Boris Yeltsin A Revolutionary Life''. Harper Collins, 2000. p. 739; {{ISBN|0-00-653041-9}}.</ref>{{sfn|Colton|2008|pp=112–113}}
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==President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic==
On 4 March 1990, Yeltsin was elected to the [[Congress of People's Deputies of Russia]] representing Sverdlovsk with 72% of the vote.<ref>Leon Aron, ''Boris Yeltsin A Revolutionary Life''. Harper Collins, 2000. pp. 739–740.</ref> On 29 May 1990, he was elected chairman of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR|Supreme Soviet]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR), in spite of the fact that Gorbachev personally pleaded with the Russian deputies not to select Yeltsin.<ref name=dob30may>{{cite news|last=Dobbs|first=Michael|title=Yeltsin Wins Presidency of Russia|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/pres053090.htm|access-date=31 March 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 May 1990|location=Moscow}}</ref> He was supported by both democratic and conservative members of the Supreme Soviet, which sought power in the developing political situation in the country.▼
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2017}}
 
▲On 4 March 1990, Yeltsin was elected to the [[Congress of People's Deputies of Russia]] representing Sverdlovsk with 72% of the vote.<ref>Leon Aron, ''Boris Yeltsin A Revolutionary Life''. Harper Collins, 2000. pp. 739–740.</ref> On 29 May 1990, he was elected chairman of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR|Supreme Soviet]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR), in spite of the fact that Gorbachev personally pleaded with the Russian deputies not to select Yeltsin.<ref name=dob30may>{{cite news|last=Dobbs|first=Michael|title=Yeltsin Wins Presidency of Russia|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/pres053090.htm|access-date=31 March 2013|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 May 1990|location=Moscow}}</ref> He was supported by both democratic and conservative members of the Supreme Soviet, which sought power in the developing political situation in the country.
 
A part of this power struggle was the opposition between power structures of the Soviet Union and the RSFSR. In an attempt to gain more power, on 12 June 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted a declaration of sovereignty. On 12 July 1990, Yeltsin resigned from the CPSU in a dramatic speech before party members at the [[28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], some of whom responded by shouting "Shame!"<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_4493000/4493177.stm|newspaper=BBC|title=1990: Yeltsin resignation splits Soviet Communists|date=12 July 1990}}</ref>
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[[File:Boris Yeltsin 22 August 1991-1.jpg|thumb|Yeltsin on 22 August 1991]]
 
During May 1991 [[Vaclav Havel]] invited Yeltsin to [[Prague]] where the latter unambiguously condemned the Soviet intervention in 1968.<ref name="spero07">{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/09662839208407069|title=The Budapest-Prague-Warsaw triangle: Central European security after the Visegrad summit |year=1992 |last1=Spero |first1=Joshua |journal=European Security |volume=1 |pages=58–83 }}</ref><ref name="akby">{{cite news |last1=Kozyrev |first1=Andrei |title=Boris Yeltsin, the Soviet Union, the CIS, and Me |url=https://www.wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/_/boris-yeltsin-the-soviet-union-the-cis-and-me |publisher=The Wilson Quarterly / Wilson Center |date=Fall 2016}}</ref> On 12 June Yeltsin won 57% of the popular vote in the democratic [[1991 Russian presidential election|presidential elections for the Russian republic]], defeating Gorbachev's preferred candidate, [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]], who got just 16% of the vote, and four other candidates. In his election campaign, Yeltsin criticized the "dictatorship of the center", but did not suggest the introduction of a market economy. Instead, he said that he would put his head on the railtrack in the event of increased prices. Yeltsin took office on 10 July, and reappointed [[Ivan Silayev]] as [[List of heads of government of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Council of Ministers]] of the Russian SFSR. On 18 August 1991, a [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|coup against Gorbachev]] was launched by the government members opposed to perestroika. Gorbachev was held in [[Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Crimea]] while Yeltsin raced to the [[White House of Russia]] (residence of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR) in Moscow to defy the coup, making a memorable speech from atop the turret of a tank onto which he had climbed. The White House was surrounded by the military, but the troops defected in the face of mass popular demonstrations. By 21 August most of the coup leaders had fled Moscow and Gorbachev was "rescued" from Crimea and then returned to Moscow. Yeltsin was subsequently hailed by his supporters around the world for rallying mass opposition to the coup.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
 
Although restored to his position, Gorbachev had been destroyed politically. Neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands as support had swung over to Yeltsin. By September, Gorbachev could no longer influence events outside of Moscow. Taking advantage of the situation, Yeltsin began taking over what remained of the Soviet government, ministry by ministry—including the Kremlin. On 6 November 1991, Yeltsin issued a decree banning all Communist Party activities on Russian soil. In early December 1991, [[Ukraine]] voted for independence from the Soviet Union. A week later, on 8 December, Yeltsin met Ukrainian president [[Leonid Kravchuk]] and the leader of [[Belarus]], [[Stanislav Shushkevich]], in [[Belovezhskaya Pushcha]]. In the [[Belavezha Accords]], the three presidents declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed "as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality", and announced the formation of a voluntary [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS) in its place.<ref>Прайс М. [http://www.medialaw.ru/publications/books/mp/6.html Телевидение, телекоммуникации и переходный период: право, общество и национальная идентичность] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20020228222943/http://www.medialaw.ru/publications/books/mp/6.html |date=28 February 2002 }}</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vt5OLD3vp4UC&q=26+december+1991+ussr&pg=PR5 | title=Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Documents, Data, and Analysis| isbn=9781563246371| last1=Brzezinski| first1=Zbigniew| last2=Brzezinski| first2=Zbigniew K.| last3=Sullivan| first3=Paige| year=1997| publisher=M.E. Sharpe}}</ref>
 
[[File:RIAN archive 848095 Signing the Agreement to eliminate the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.jpg|thumb|left|[[Republics of the Soviet Union|Leaders of the Soviet Republics]] sign the [[Belovezha Accords]].]]
 
According to Gorbachev, Yeltsin kept the plans of the Belovezhskaya meeting in strict secrecy and the main goal of the dissolution of the Soviet Union was to get rid of Gorbachev, who by that time had started to recover his position after the events of August. Gorbachev has also accused Yeltsin of violating the people's will expressed in the [[1991 Soviet Union referendum|referendum from March]], in which the majority voted to keep the Soviet Union united. On 12 December, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR ratified the Belavezha Accords and denounced the 1922 [[Treaty on the Creation of the USSR|Union Treaty]]. It also recalled the Russian deputies from the [[Soviet of the Union|Council of the Union]], leaving that body without a quorum. While this is regarded as the moment that the largest republic of the Soviet Union had seceded, this is not technically the case. Russia appeared to take the line that it was not possible to secede from a country that no longer existed.
 
On 17 December, in a meeting with Yeltsin, Gorbachev accepted the ''[[Point of no return|fait accompli]]'' and agreed to [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolve the Soviet Union]]. On 24 December, by mutual agreement of the other CIS states (which by this time included all of the remaining republics except Georgia), the Russian Federation took the Soviet Union's seat in the United Nations. The next day, Gorbachev resigned and handed the functions of his office to Yeltsin.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/26/world/end-of-the-soviet-union-text-of-gorbachev-s-farewell-address.html |title=End of the Soviet Union: Text of Gorbachev's Farewell Address |website=The New York Times |date=26 December 1991 |access-date=27 December 2019}}</ref> On 26 December, the [[Soviet of Nationalities|Council of the Republics]], the upper house of the Supreme Soviet, voted the Soviet Union out of existence, thereby ending the world's oldest, largest and most powerful Communist state.<ref name="books.google.com" /> Economic relations between the former Soviet republics were severely compromised. Millions of ethnic Russians found themselves in newly formed foreign countries.<ref name="apn.ru">{{cite web|url=http://www.apn.ru/publications/article16977.htm|title=Исполнитель. Несколько слов о Борисе Ельцине|access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref>
 
Initially, Yeltsin promoted the retention of national borders according to the pre-existing Soviet state borders, although this left ethnic [[Russians]] as a majority in parts of northern [[Kazakhstan]], eastern Ukraine, and areas of [[Estonia]] and [[Latvia]].{{sfn|Evans|1994|pp=38–39}}
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====Privatization and the rise of "the oligarchs"====
{{Main|Privatization in Russia}}
[[File:Press Conference with President Clinton & President Yeltsin.webm|thumb|thumbtime=05:55|start=05:50|Yeltsin and [[Bill Clinton]] share a laugh in October 1995.]]
 
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yeltsin promoted [[privatization in Russia|privatization]] as a way of spreading ownership of shares in former state enterprises as widely as possible to create political support for his economic reforms. In the West, privatization was viewed as the key to the transition from Communism in Eastern Europe, ensuring a quick dismantling of the Soviet-era command economy to make way for "free market reforms". In the early-1990s, [[Anatoly Chubais]], Yeltsin's deputy for economic policy, emerged as a leading advocate of privatization in Russia.
 
In late 1992, Yeltsin launched a programme of free vouchers as a way to give mass privatization a jump-start. Under the programme, all Russian citizens were issued vouchers, each with a nominal value of around 10,000 rubles, for the purchase of shares of select state enterprises. Although each citizen initially received a voucher of equal face value, within months the majority of them converged in the hands of intermediaries who were ready to buy them for cash right away.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sps.ru/?id=234112 |title=Олег Наумов, Андрей Нечаев: Пройдет время, и в школьных учебниках истории о Борисе Ельцине будет записано, что это президент, заложивший основы новой демократической России |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109100134/http://www.sps.ru/?id=234112 |archive-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Москва, Красная площадь, День Победы 1995.jpg|thumb|219x219px|Boris Yeltsin and the country's leadership on the [[Lenin's Mausoleum|Lenin Mausoleum]] tribune during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of [[Victory Day (9 May)|Victory]], 9 May 1995.]]
In 1995, as Yeltsin struggled to finance Russia's growing foreign debt and gain support from the Russian business elite for his bid in the 1996 presidential elections, the Russian president prepared for a new wave of privatization offering stock shares in some of Russia's most valuable state enterprises in exchange for bank loans. The programme was promoted as a way of simultaneously speeding up privatization and ensuring the government a cash infusion to cover its operating needs.'<ref name="apn.ru"/>
 
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Zyuganov, who lacked Yeltsin's resources and financial backing, saw his strong initial lead whittled away. After the first round on 16 June, Yeltsin appointed a highly popular candidate [[Alexander Lebed]], who finished in third place in the first round, secretary of the [[Security Council of Russia]], sacked at the latter's behest defence minister [[Pavel Grachev]], and on 20 June sacked a number of his ''[[siloviki]]'', one of them being his chief of presidential security [[Alexander Korzhakov]], viewed by many as Yeltsin's [[éminence grise]]. In the run-off on 3 July, with a turnout of 68.9%, Yeltsin won 53.8% of the vote and Zyuganov 40.7%, with the rest (5.9%) voting "[[blank vote|against all]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/premier070596.htm|title=Lee Hockstader, Washington Post Foreign Service|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=5 July 1996|access-date=3 November 2010|archive-date=19 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519103142/http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russiagov/stories/premier070596.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
=== 1996–1999: Second term ===
{{see also|1998 Russian financial crisis}}
[[File:President Bill Clinton with President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Yeltsin (right) meeting with President [[Bill Clinton]] (left) and President [[Martti Ahtisaari]] (middle) in Helsinki, Finland on March 21, 1997]]
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====Attempted 1999 impeachment====
On 15 May 1999, Yeltsin survived another impeachment attempt of impeachment, this time by the democratic and [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|communist]] opposition in the [[State Duma]]. He was charged with several unconstitutional activities, including the signing of the [[Belovezha Accords]] dissolving the [[Soviet Union]] in December 1991, the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis|coup-d'état in October 1993]], and initiating the [[First Chechen War|war]] in [[Chechnya]] in 1994. None of these charges received the two-thirds majority of the Duma required to initiate the process of [[Impeachment in Russia|impeachment]] of the president.
 
====Mabetex corruption====
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==Heart disease and alcoholism==
Yeltsin suffered from [[heart disease]] during his first term as Presidentpresident of the Russian Federation, probably continuing for the rest of his life. He is known to have suffered heart problems in March 1990, just after being elected as a member of parliament.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/08/98/russia_crisis/202193.stm|title=BBC News – Russia crisis – Yeltsin's health record|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> It was common knowledge that, in early 1996, he was recuperating from a series of heart attacks and, soon after, he spent months in hospital recovering from a quintuple bypass operation (see above).
 
[[File:Vladimir Putin 1 February 2002-2.jpg|thumb|left|Boris and Naina Yeltsina with President [[Vladimir Putin]] and [[First Lady of Russia|First Lady]] [[Lyudmila Putina|Lyudmila]] on Yeltsin's 71st birthday, 2002]]
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After Yeltsin's death, Michiel Staal, a Dutch neurosurgeon, said that his team had been secretly flown to Moscow to operate on Yeltsin in 1999. Yeltsin suffered from an unspecified neurological disorder that affected his sense of balance, causing him to wobble as if in a drunken state; the goal of the operation was to reduce the pain.<ref name=digger />
 
[[Bill Clinton]] claimed that on a 1995 visit to Washington, Yeltsin was found on Pennsylvania Avenue, drunk, in his underwear and trying to hail a taxi cab in order to find pizza.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 September 2009 |title=Secret interviews add insight to Clinton presidency |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-21-clinton-tapes_N.htm |titleurl-status=Secret interviews adddead insight to Clinton presidency|workarchive-url=USAhttps://web.archive.org/web/20090925020557/https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-21-clinton-tapes_N.htm Today|archive-date=212009-09-25 September|work=USA 2009Today}}</ref>
 
Yeltsin's personal and health problems received a great deal of attention in the global press. As the years went on, he was often viewed as an increasingly drunk and unstable leader, rather than the inspiring figure he was once seen as. The possibility that he might die in office was often discussed. Starting in the last years of his presidential term, Yeltsin's primary residence was the ''Gorki-9'' presidential [[dacha]] west of Moscow. He made frequent stays at the nearby government sanatorium in [[Barvikha]].<ref name=digger /> In October 1999, Yeltsin was hospitalized with flu and a fever, and in the following month, he was hospitalized with [[pneumonia]], just days after receiving treatment for [[bronchitis]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/542017.stm|title=BBC News – Europe – Yeltsin rushed to hospital|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
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==Life after resignation==
[[File:Boris Yeltsin 1 February 2006.jpg|thumb|upright|Yeltsin with his wife [[Naina Yeltsina|Naina]] on his 75th birthday, 2006]]
Yeltsin maintained a low profile after his resignation, making almost no public statements or appearances. He criticized his successor Putin in December 2000 for supporting the reintroduction of the tune of the [[National anthem of Russia|Soviet-era national anthem]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1059784.stm|title=BBC News – EUROPEEurope – Yeltsin attacks Putin over anthem|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> In January 2001 he was hospitalized for six weeks with [[pneumonia]] resulting from a viral infection.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1215204.stm|title=BBC News – EUROPEEurope – Yeltsin leaves hospital|work=bbc.co.uk}}</ref> On 13 September 2004, following the [[Beslan school siege|Beslan school hostage crisis]] and nearly concurrent terrorist attacks in Moscow, Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be directly appointed by the president and approved by regional legislatures. Yeltsin, together with [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], publicly criticized Putin's plan as a step away from democracy in Russia and a return to the centrally-run political apparatus of the Soviet era.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1218131/posts?page=207|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116170033/http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1218131/posts?page=207|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 January 2017|title=Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin Speak out Against Putin's Reforms|publisher=MosNews.com|date=16 September 2004|access-date=17 April 2007}}</ref>
 
In September 2005, Yeltsin underwent a hip operation in Moscow after breaking his [[femur]] in a fall while on holiday in the Italian island of [[Sardinia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kommersant.com/p609848/r_1/Boris_Yeltsin_Leaves_Ward/|title=Boris Yeltsin Leaves Ward|author=Yulia Osipova|publisher=[[Kommersant]]|date=19 September 2005|access-date=17 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191722/http://www.kommersant.com/p609848/r_1/Boris_Yeltsin_Leaves_Ward/|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 1 February 2006, Yeltsin celebrated his 75th birthday.
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[[File:Funeral of Boris Yeltsin-1.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Yeltsin's funeral]]
 
Yeltsin died of [[heart failure|congestive heart failure]]<ref name="kp">{{cite news|url=http://kp.ru/daily/23892/66451/|script-title=ru:У первого президента не выдержало сердце|publisher=[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]|date=24 April 2007|access-date=24 April 2007|language=ru |newspaper=Kp.ru – }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lenta.ru/news/2007/04/23/elzin2|script-title=ru:Ельцин умер от остановки сердца|publisher=Lenta|date=23 April 2007|access-date=24 April 2007|language=ru}}</ref> on 23 April 2007, aged 76.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6584481.stm|publisher=BBC|title=Russian ex-president Yeltsin dies|date=23 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1262163,00.html |title=Former Russian President Yeltsin dies |publisher=[[Sky News]] |date=23 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425152547/http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0%2C%2C30200-1262163%2C00.html |archive-date=25 April 2007 }}</ref> According to experts quoted by ''[[Komsomolskaya Pravda]]'', the onset of Yeltsin's condition began during his visit to [[Jordan]] between 25 March and 2 April.<ref name="kp"/> He was buried in the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]] on 25 April 2007,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/world/MI45512/|publisher=[[Fox News Channel]]|title=Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who helped bring demise of Soviet Union, dead at 76|date=23 April 2007|access-date=24 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928024822/http://www1.wsvn.com/news/articles/world/MI45512/|archive-date=28 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> following a period during which his body had [[lying in repose|lain in repose]] in the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]] in Moscow.<ref>BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6586181.stm Yeltsin to lie in state in Moscow]; retrieved 24 April 2007.</ref>
 
Yeltsin was the first Russian head of state in 113 years to be buried in a church ceremony, after Emperor [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]].<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1695880.ece Tony Halpin. "Yeltsin, the man who buried communism"] ''The Times''. 24 April 2007 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930145904/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1695880.ece |date=30 September 2009 }}</ref> He was survived by his wife, [[Naina Yeltsina|Naina Iosifovna Yeltsina]], whom he married in 1956, and their two daughters Yelena and [[Tatyana Yumasheva|Tatyana]], born in 1957 and 1960, respectively.<ref name="nationel"/>
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[Yeltsin] assumed full responsibility for everything he called for, for everything he aspired to. For everything he tried to do and did do for the sake of Russia, for the sake of millions of Russians. And he invariably took upon himself, let it in his heart, all the trials and tribulations of Russia, peoples' difficulties and problems.<ref>[http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24164 Vladimir Putin`s Address on the Occasion of Boris Yelstin’s Passing] Kremlin, 23 April 2007. Retrieved: 24 April 2007</ref>}}
 
Shortly after the news broke, former Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] issued a statement, saying: {{blockquote|"I express my profoundest condolences to the family of the deceased, who had major deeds for the good of the country as well as serious mistakes behind him. It was a tragic destiny."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6584785.stm "In quotes: Reactions to Yeltsin death"], 23 April 2007.</ref>}}
 
== Ideology ==
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==Reception and legacy==
[[File:BorisYeltsinMemorial.JPG|thumb|Yeltsin's tomb with monumental gravegravestone stone inat [[Novodevichy cemeteryCemetery]]]]
[[File:Yeltsin-center-day.JPG|thumb|[[Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center|Yeltsin Center]] with the memorial sculpture ]]
[[File:Tallinn - Dompark - Gedenktafel für Boris Jelzin.jpg|thumb|Memorial to Yeltsin in [[Tallinn, Estonia]]]]
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==Notes==
{{notelist}}
Several Slavic languages render the name as '''Boris Jeljcin'''.<ref>[https[://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Jeljcin:Boris Jeljcin|Croatian Wikipedia]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=August 2024}}
 
==References==
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