Yeltsin's dead

[The Monkey]

Boris Yeltsin, who oversaw the Soviet Union's demise and became Russia's first president, has died aged 76, the Kremlin says.

Mr Yeltsin had a history of heart trouble, though the cause of death has not been announced.

He came to power after being promoted by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a man he then outmanoeuvred.

He won international acclaim as a defender of democracy when in August 1991 he mounted a tank in Moscow.

He rallied the people against an attempt to overthrow Mr Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika.

But Mr Yeltsin, who became Russia's first democratically-elected leader after Mr Gorbachev resigned in December 1991, saw his later years in office overshadowed by increasingly erratic behaviour and plummeting popularity as the economy suffered.

Mr Yeltsin had a quintuple heart bypass operation following his re-election in 1996.

He announced his retirement on the last day of the 20th Century, handing over to secret service chief Vladimir Putin.

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall says ill-health, rumours of a drinking problem and corruption further clouded Yeltsin's presidency.

His love of theatrical gestures was becoming alarming, she says, perhaps never more so than when he grabbed a conductor's baton in Berlin and, apparently inebriated, tried to sing along with the orchestra.

In one of the most dramatic moments of his presidency, Mr Yeltsin ordered Russian tanks to fire on their own parliament in October 1993, when the building was occupied by hardline political opponents.

A BBC Moscow correspondent says Mr Yeltsin will be remembered as the man who brought democracy to Russia.

He presided over Russia's troubled mass privatisation in the early 1990s and also launched the large-scale military intervention in Chechnya in 1994.

Speaking in an interview with Russian television in 2000, Mr Yeltsin said that he saw the lives lost in Chechnya as the biggest responsibility he had to bear.

But he added that there had been no alternative and that Russia had to act against Chechen separatists.

"I cannot shift the blame for Chechnya, for the sorrow of numerous mothers and fathers," he said. "I made the decision, therefore I am responsible."

Reacting to the news of Mr Yeltsin's death, Mr Gorbachev expressed his "very deepest condolences to the family of the deceased on whose shoulders rest major events for the good of the country and serious mistakes", Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

He described Mr Yeltsin's death as "a tragic fate".

The White House paid tribute to Mr Yeltsin, saying he had been an "historic figure during a time of great change and challenge for Russia".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6584481.stm

D:

 

[<RJMC>]

one questiong,in a episode of the simpsons moe use some wacky alcoholimeter on homer and when homer inhalated it it ended in "boris yeltsin"
was this that person?

 

[No Limit]

In totally unrelated news vodka stocks plummeted today.

 

[No Limit]

one questiong,in a episode of the simpsons moe use some wacky alcoholimeter on homer and when homer inhalated it it ended in "boris yeltsin"
was this that person?

Yeah. From what I know about him he was a total drunk.

 

[staticprimer]

Oddly enough, I am writing a paper on the Chechen conflict right now.

 

[The Monkey]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-lal2MUKw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[kirovman]

I'm quite upset, I went to Yeltsin's Russia on several occassions and it was just rad.

 

[No Limit]

I'm quite upset, I went to Yeltsin's Russia on several occassions and it was just rad.

You're kidding, right?

 

[kirovman]

Kind of. I have mixed feelings.

On one hand, he destroyed the authoritarian rule. On the other hand, he introduced Putin, to pave the way for authoritarian rule.

I did go to Russia several times as I said. Whilst it was in the process of modernisation, it was still a bit of a chaotic mess.

 

[No Limit]

Kind of. I have mixed feelings.

On one hand, he destroyed the authoritarian rule. On the other hand, he introduced Putin, to pave the way for authoritarian rule.

I did go to Russia several times as I said. Whilst it was in the process of modernisation, it was still a bit of a chaotic mess.

I can't really comment much on the guy as I don't know that much about him.

I've never been to Russia personally but since I'm from eastern europe originally I can not only relate to how life was there during that time but I know many people from Russia. And what I have gathered from my personal experiance and from what those people have told me is that life during that time was devistating in that region. I hope things have gotten better there. I was actually talking to a exchange student from Russia a few weeks ago and she said things were much better off there now economically, though I didn't really ask her of her opinion about Putin.

 

[kirovman]

Yeah, the economy went to hell in the 90s, but it's hard to say if it could have been avoided in any situation.

However I ultimately think Yeltsin was a force for good in very troubled times, life is on the up now for Eastern Europeans now and indeed the Russians, but the future with Putin seems uncertain with respect to individual freedoms.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Damn. That guy was awesome. Gone are the days when we can wonder if we'll live or die because someone got pissed and acidentially pressed the button.

 

[pvtbones]

Damn. That guy was awesome. Gone are the days when we can wonder if we'll live or die because someone got pissed and acidentially pressed the button.

or if he was drunk and his hand slipped.

 

[ComradeBadger]

... isn't that exactly what Marley said?

 

[Jintor]

Is this our quota of 50% good news?

 

[kirovman]

...dead tired of getting bad reception on his mobile phone when roaming in the jungle!

... isn't that exactly what Marley said?

or isn't it precisely what Marley stated?

 

[gick]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-lal2MUKw[/YOUTUBE]

What a Jolly man!

He will be missed.

... isn't that exactly what Marley said?

Not when you come from a country where 'pissed' means angry.

 

[Kula Meenur]

Sleyt tri amil ti huy raspizdyai. Grijeatrii ranihuey seltz yeltsin.

He was a revolutionary president in all senses of the word. He did a lot of good things for russia. Although his good actions measured his bad actions.

In the words of my uncle... "Yeltsin was all three... good, bad and ****ing ugly."

He still lives in Minsk, so he'll prolly be celebrating Yeltsin's death like everyone else. Though there are some very prominent people in belarus who still support Yeltsin...

...meh!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Here's an interesting fact; Russian leaders have a tradition of alternating between being bald and having hair, and people believe this seriously affected the outcome of Putin being elected after Yeltsin.

 

[CrazyHarij]

i'll have a bottle of this to his honor:
http://www.vinboden.com/catalog/images/bib_boris_jeltsin.jpg

 

[Kula Meenur]

Lol... you crazy, crazy man.

 

[The Monkey]

Here's an interesting fact; Russian leaders have a tradition of alternating between being bald and having hair, and people believe this seriously affected the outcome of Putin being elected after Yeltsin.

Yes, and some say the bald ones are better, or at least not as bad, as the ones with hair.