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Putin leads tributes to Yeltsin Yeltsin to lie in state in Moscow
(about 7 hours later)
Russian President Vladimir Putin has led tributes to his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, who has died aged 76. The body of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin is to lie in state in Moscow ahead of a funeral on Wednesday.
Mr Putin said Russia had entered a "whole new epoch" thanks to Mr Yeltsin, who bequeathed a state in which "power truly belongs to the people". His body will be viewed in the Church of Christ the Saviour, a cathedral rebuilt during his presidency and a symbol of the post-communist era.
Mr Yeltsin, who had a history of heart trouble, died of heart failure in a Moscow hospital. Mr Yeltsin, who had a history of heart trouble, died of heart failure on Monday in a city hospital, aged 76.
His funeral will be held in Moscow on Wednesday, which has been declared a national day of mourning. Current President Vladimir Putin led tributes, saying that under Mr Yeltsin Russia had entered a "whole new epoch".
His predecessor had bequeathed a state in which "power truly belongs to the people", Mr Putin said.
Mr Yeltsin's body will lie in state on Wednesday, ahead of a Moscow funeral service. The day has been declared a national day of mourning.
Mr Putin later announced that he had postponed his annual speech to a joint session of parliament, due to be delivered on Wednesday, until Thursday.
Mixed tribute
Mr Yeltsin's death was announced by the Kremlin, the seat of power which he fell out with, then later occupied as Russia's first post-Soviet head of state.Mr Yeltsin's death was announced by the Kremlin, the seat of power which he fell out with, then later occupied as Russia's first post-Soviet head of state.
"Today, at 1545 (1145 GMT) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin died in the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of a deteriorating cardiovascular problem," a spokeswoman said. [Boris Yeltsin] was a straightforward and bold national leader Vladimir PutinRussian president He developed a viral infection after a sightseeing trip to Jordan at the beginning of April and was admitted to Moscow's central clinical hospital 12 days ago, an unconfirmed report on the gazeta.ru website said.
[Boris Yeltsin] was a straightforward and bold national leader Vladimir PutinRussian president Messages of condolence from both Mr Yeltsin's admirers and adversaries streamed in from around the world.
The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, paid a mixed tribute to his successor, saying Mr Yeltsin was responsible for "many great deeds for the good of the country and serious mistakes".The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, paid a mixed tribute to his successor, saying Mr Yeltsin was responsible for "many great deeds for the good of the country and serious mistakes".
In Washington, President George W Bush praised Mr Yeltsin as an "historic figure who served his country during a period of momentous change".
Mr Putin, who succeeded Mr Yeltsin at the end of 1999, recalled Mr Yeltsin as a "courageous but genial and warm-hearted person.Mr Putin, who succeeded Mr Yeltsin at the end of 1999, recalled Mr Yeltsin as a "courageous but genial and warm-hearted person.
"He was a straightforward and bold national leader who was frank and honest to his utmost in defending his positions," he said in a televised address."He was a straightforward and bold national leader who was frank and honest to his utmost in defending his positions," he said in a televised address.
"We will do everything we can to ensure that the memory of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, his noble thoughts and his words: 'take care of Russia' serve as a moral and political benchmark for us."
'Champion of democracy''Champion of democracy'
Mr Yeltsin came to power after being promoted by Mr Gorbachev, a man he later outmanoeuvred. Mr Yeltsin came to power as a champion of Russia's new democracy.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall says though he started out a loyal Communist official, Mr Yeltsin rose to fame as a flamboyant champion of Russia's new democracy. YELTSIN KEY DATES July 1990: Resigns from Communist PartyJune 1991: Elected president of Russian republic (in USSR)August 1991: Rallies citizens against anti-Gorbachev coup, bans Russian communist partyDecember 1991: Takes over from Mikhail Gorbachev as head of state1992: Lifts price controls, launches privatisationOctober 1993: Russia on brink of civil war, Yeltsin orders tanks to fire at parliamentDecember 1994: Sends tanks into ChechnyaJune 1996: Re-elected as Russian president, suffers heart attack during campaign1998: Financial crisis, rouble loses 75% of its valueDecember 1999: Resigns, appoints Vladimir Putin successor class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/38422.stm">Obituary of Yeltsin class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/6584785.stm">In quotes: Reaction to death class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=6149&edition=1">Send us your comments In a defining moment of his career, Mr Yeltsin mounted a tank in Moscow in August 1991, rallying the people against an attempt to overthrow Mr Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika.
YELTSIN KEY DATES July 1990: Resigns from Communist PartyJune 1991: Elected president of Russian republic (in USSR)August 1991: Rallies citizens against anti-Gorbachev coup, bans Russian communist partyDecember 1991: Takes over from Mikhail Gorbachev as head of state1992: Lifts price controls, launches privatisationOctober 1993: Russia on brink of civil war, Yeltsin orders tanks to fire at parliamentDecember 1994: Sends tanks into ChechnyaJune 1996: Re-elected as Russian president, suffers heart attack during campaign1998: Financial crisis, rouble loses 75% of its valueDecember 1999: Resigns, appoints Vladimir Putin successor class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/38422.stm">Obituary of Yeltsin class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/6584785.stm">In quotes: Reaction to death In a defining moment of his career, Mr Yeltsin mounted a tank in Moscow in August 1991, rallying the people against an attempt to overthrow Mr Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika. Two years later, in another episode of high drama, he ordered Russian tanks to fire on their own parliament in October 1993.
Two years later, in another episode of high drama, he ordered Russian tanks to fire on their own parliament in October 1993, when the building was occupied by hardline political opponents. But Mr Yeltsin saw his final years in office overshadowed by bouts of ill-health accompanied by rumours of a drinking problem, increasingly erratic behaviour and plummeting popularity.
But Mr Yeltsin, who became Russia's first democratically-elected leader after Mr Gorbachev resigned in December 1991, saw his final years in office overshadowed by increasingly erratic behaviour and plummeting popularity as the economy suffered. He announced his retirement in the final hours of 1999, handing over to Mr Putin, the former head of the FSB, Russia's internal security service, whom he had made prime minister months earlier.
Bouts of ill-health were accompanied by rumours of a drinking problem, exhibited most famously when Mr Yeltsin grabbed a conductor's baton in Berlin and, apparently inebriated, tried to sing along with the orchestra. BBC Russian affairs analyst Steven Eke says under the Yeltsin leadership Russians were given greater political and civic freedoms than they had ever enjoyed.
Our correspondent says despite his unpredictability, Boris Yeltsin remained a reliable Western ally, even when relations grew icy over Nato's military action against Yugoslavia in 1999. But history may judge Mr Yeltsin's disastrous military intervention in the rebellious region of Chechnya much more harshly, he adds.
He announced his retirement in the final hours of 1999, handing over to Mr Putin, the then head of the FSB, Russia's secret service. A bloody war of attrition, begun in 1994, left tens of thousands of people dead, and the north Caucasus permanently destabilised.
Chechen debacle
Mr Yeltsin's eight years in power brought immense changes to Russia.
He banned the Communist Party, introduced a new constitution which concentrated all real power in the hands of the president, and presided over Russia's troubled mass privatisation in the early 1990s.
The BBC's Russian affairs analyst, Steven Eke, says under the Yeltsin leadership, Russians were given greater political and civic freedoms than they had ever enjoyed.
The media, especially television, were able to criticise the authorities, even the president, in a way they would no longer consider possible, he says.
But history may judge Mr Yeltsin's actions towards the rebellious region of Chechnya much more harshly, he adds.
In 1994, Mr Yeltsin launched a disastrous large-scale military intervention in the breakaway republic, pledging to crush resistance in days.
Instead, a bloody war of attrition ensued, which left tens of thousands of people dead, and the north Caucasus permanently destabilised