Ex-President is dead

[BeBMan]

.....Russia's I mean

Russian ex-president Yeltsin dies

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died, the Kremlin says.

Mr Yeltsin was 76. The cause of death has not yet been announced. He had a history of heart trouble.

In 1991 he famously outmanoeuvred former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and then triumphed against parliament hardliners in 1993.

Mr Yeltsin became Russia's first democratically elected president after Mr Gorbachev resigned as Soviet leader in December 1991.

He won international acclaim as a defender of democracy when in August 1991 he mounted a tank in Moscow, rallying the people against an attempt to overthrow Mr Gorbachev's era of glasnost and perestroika.

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

[Harovan]

May he rest in peace.

I won't shed a tear for him, though.

[Saras]

RIP. He was a drunkard, kleptocrat and set Russia back decades (as opposed to what could have been achieved by someone more like Putin).

He was instrumental in dismantling the only empire in history that legislated itself out of existence.

[Harovan]

Re: Ex-President is dead

Originally posted by BeBro

The cause of death has not yet been announced.

It has to be delirium tremens.

[Kuciwalker]

There's an obvious joke here.

[Tattila the Hun]

Originally posted by Saras
RIP. He was a drunkard, kleptocrat and set Russia back decades (as opposed to what could have been achieved by someone more like Putin).

Uh, seems like Putin is on his way to set Russia back a half of a century.

[Dis]

teh Putin.

ambiguous thread titles.

[LordShiva]

Happy Putin

Serb

[Heresson]

Poor Yeltzin.
He wasn't quite friend of Poland, but he's one of few leaders of Russia in its history that honestly tried to lead this country in good direction

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Heresson
Poor Yeltzin.
He wasn't quite friend of Poland,

Last russian leader who was?

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Saras
RIP. He was a drunkard, kleptocrat and set Russia back decades (as opposed to what could have been achieved by someone more like Putin).

He was instrumental in dismantling the only empire in history that legislated itself out of existence.

Didn't the british empire gradually also legislate itself out of existence?

I'm sure there were other smaller empires that ended their imperial status by the same means.

[Heresson]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


Last russian leader who was?

Kievan Ruthenia doesn't count, for Ukraine is more successor of it than Russia...

But both Dymitrs, as well as Wladyslaw Waza were fine

empress Catherine I was a Pole, but I don't know about her politics.

empress Elisabeth wanted to give us Prussia in exchange for a chunk of Ukraine A shame she died before finishing Old Fritz

emperor Paul was friendly towards Poles, he even freed and met with Kosciuszko, who fought against Russia. He believed himself to be halfly polish...

emperor Alexander I (he actually should be counted as Alexander II when it comes to him as king of Poland, but he is not. In general, russian kings are not counted, but he himself should) had Czartoryski as his best friend (and, hm, best friend of his wife) and advisor, created crippled Kingdom of Poland and promessed to extend it, gave it wide autonomy, supported polish education in post-polish lands etc

Stalin, while he was a bastard when he partaged Poland, murdered out the inteligentsia and officers, took half of Poland, installed a communist regime etc, at least argued for Lower Silesia to become polish, against the will of Churchill.

[mrmitchell]

Check the body for Polonium 210...