Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first democratically elected president, was put to rest Wednesday, following a lavish Orthodox ceremony attended by foreign former heads of state and thousands of ordinary Russians alike. Yeltsin died of heart failure on Monday. He was 76.
Former U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister John Major, and Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, representing the British royal family, joined foreign dignitaries at church services and a funeral procession through Moscow's streets to the famous Novodevichy Cemetery, where Russia's first president was laid to rest among the country's many personalities, including former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
Before the burial, Naina Yeltsina, the widow, and two of his daughters, said their last farewells to Yeltsin. After standing at the coffin in silence, Naina Yeltsina kissed and crossed her late husband after which a litany was conducted. The coffin was lowered into the grave to the sound of three artillery salvos, followed by the Russian anthem.
"Boris Nikolayevich, however difficult it was for him and whatever difficulties the country was going through, always believed in Russia's revival and transformation, respected the talent and power of the Russian nation," President Vladimir Putin said after the funeral at a mourning reception in St. George's Hall in Kremlin.
"He sincerely tried to do everything possible to make the life of millions of Russians worthy of such a proud title," the Russian leader said, adding that this was Yeltsin's dream. "We will walk toward this goal."
Alexy II, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, unable to attend the funeral due to a recent bout with illness, expressed his sentiments for the late ex-president's legacy in a letter that was read aloud at the funeral service. Yeltsin's body lay in state at the Christ the Savior Cathedral - an architectural gem that was destroyed by the Bolsheviks in the 1930s and rebuilt during Yeltsin's presidency - from Tuesday till Wednesday. An estimated 25,000 Russians and foreigners gathered at the cathedral to pay their last respects to the former leader.
"The whole dramatic history of the 20th century was reflected in the fate of Boris Nikolayevich," the Patriarch's letter said.
"Being a strong individual, he took upon himself responsibility for the fate of the country at a difficult and dangerous time of radical change."
The man who was destined to become Russia's first democratically elected president was also, undoubtedly, one of the most complex and controversial leaders of the past several decades.
During his erratic leadership, he was at once praised and blamed for his decisions, ranging from Russia's sometimes painful economic reforms, to ordering tanks into Chechnya, or violently crushing the short-lived Communist coup, instigated by his staunch political opponents in the Supreme Soviet in October of 1993.
On December 31, 1999, in a surprise announcement made live on Russian television, Yeltsin an¬nounced his resignation, handing the reigns of power over to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Then, in an unprecedented move, Yeltsin asked forgiveness for the mistakes he made during his rule, saying that Russia needed to enter the new century with new political leaders. "I want to beg forgiveness for your dreams that never came true... and for not achieving your hopes," Yeltsin said.
"He never walked in the shadow or hid behind others' backs. Sometimes he deliberately drew the fire upon himself, taking personal responsibility for really tough but necessary decisions," Putin said about his predecessor after the funeral. During his annual state-of-the-nation address on Thursday, Putin announced his decision to establish a presidential library in Russia, suggesting naming it after Boris Yeltsin.
By Oleg Liakhovich
