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Boris Yeltsin --A Life In Images
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President Boris Yeltsin in Minsk on December 31, 1991 (TASS) - Boris Yeltsin was Russia's first post-Soviet president.
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Russian President Boris Yeltsin addresses a crowd of workers at the Kirov plant in Leningrad on March 23, 1991 (AFP) - Yeltsin was brought to Moscow from the Urals city of Sverdlovsk by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was seeking to reinvigorate the Soviet leadership. The two men fell out, however, and a bitter power struggle ensued as Gorbachev fought to save the Soviet Union.
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Yeltsin supporters rally in Moscow on March 10, 1991, ahead of a referendum on "strengthening Russia's statehood" (TASS) - Soviet Union – Russia / Politics – Thousands of Yeltsin supporters at a rally organized by Democratic Russia ahead of a March 17, 1991 referendum, Manezh Square, Moscow, 10Mar1991 (Yeltsin urged his supporters to vote in support of a "renewed Union," but also called for a "strengthening of Russia's statehood" and forced into the referendum a vote on whether Russia's president should be popularly elected). Source: ITAR-TASS.
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Russian President Boris Yeltsin (right) forces Mikhail Gorbachev to read out a list of those who supported the August 1991 putsch (AFP) - Soviet Union – August putsch – Russian President Boris Yeltsin (R) forces the Secretary General of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev to read out a list of those who had supported the putsch; after Gorbachev finished, Yeltsin said: "Now, on a lighter note, I will sign this decree suspending the Russian Communist Party"; Moscow, 23Aug1991. Source: AFP.
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Russian President Boris Yeltsin signing the protocol on creating the Commonwealth of Independent States in Almaty on December 21, 1991 (TASS) - By the end of December 1991, the Soviet Union was dead and Boris Yeltsin was the president of an independent Russia.
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Yeltsin heading to vote in Russia's first presidential election as an independent country on June 12, 1991 (epa) - Soviet Union – Russia / politics – Presidential candidate Boris Yeltsin (C) and his wife Naina go the polling station in presidential elections, Moscow, 12Jun1991. Source: epa.
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Russia's parliament building burns after Yeltsin order troops to fire on it in October 1993 (TASS) - Russia – Constitutional crisis, 1993 – The Russian parliament (White House) on fire after Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered troops to fire on end the resistance of opponents who argued that his dissolution of parliament was unconstitutional and began impeachment proceedings, Moscow, 04Oct1993. Source:ITAR-TASS.
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Yeltsin drinks a toast with Western leaders ahead of a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe on May 9, 1995 (AFP) - Russia – Geopolitics / Personalities – President Boris Yeltsin (C) finishing a glass of vodka at a reception of heads of state in the Kremlin, with British Prime Minister John Major (foreground) and U.S. President Bill Clinton (R of Yeltsin), Moscow, 09May1995. Source: AFP.
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Yeltsin campaigning for reelection in Rostov-na-Donu on June 10, 1996 (AFP) - Russia – 1996 presidential election – President Boris Yeltsin (R) dancing during an election rally, Rostov, 10Jun1996. Source: AFP.
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Boris Yeltsin casts his ballot in a run-off presidential election on July 3, 1996 (TASS) - Russia – 1996 presidential elections – President Boris Yeltsin casts his ballot, village of Barvikha near Moscow, 03Jul1996. Source: ITAR-TASS.
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President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation on December 31, 1999 (TASS) - Russia – Politics – President Boris Yeltsin announces his resignation, 31Dec1999. Source: ITAR-TASS.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) presents a state-service award to Boris Yeltsin in Moscow on November 30, 2001 (TASS) - Russia – Politics – President Vladimir Putin (R) gives his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, a state medal for services to the country, Moscow, 30Nov2001. Source: ITAR-TASS.
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Former President Boris Yeltsin watching a volleyball tournament in Nizhny Tagil on April 25, 2004 (TASS) - Russia – Politics – Ex-President Boris Yeltsin celebrates a Russian victory over Cuba in the Yeltsin Cup volleyball tournament, Nizhny Tagil, 25Apr2004. Source: ITAR-TASS.