Former Soviet premier Nikolai Ryzhkov has died at the age of 94. The news was announced on February 28 by the chairwoman of the Russian parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council. No cause of death was given. Ryzhkov was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet government from 1985 to 1991. In 1991, Ryzhkov ran for president, placing second behind Boris Yeltsin. After the Soviet Union's collapse, Ryzhkov served as a lawmaker. He was under Western sanctions for supporting Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
