we it's the grand imperial. to tell you what. you can a letter to mr saddam did to go. read this and the colonel was original as a retreat. this is our team now here's a look at the stories we're covering for you today on the rest in egypt is gathering momentum as hundreds of thousands of people converging that's capital cairo and the latest attempt to force president mubarak to step down so far three hundred people have reportedly been killed and over three thousand injured since the protests began over a week ago. also western media is under criticism for a double standards in its coverage of the riots in egypt and similar events in other countries will experts say the mainstream view is often guided by political

agendas rather than pure facts. and a day of trading to one of russia's most controversial leaders on eightieth anniversary of his birth the country remembers its late president morsy his legacy still has many russians divided. and now for a more in-depth look at the late leader's life and achievements. you know yeltsin the widow of russia's first president that's in our interview program the spotlight coming up next. i am. hello again then the welcome to spotlight the interview show on our tilt i overindulged today's show is a dedication to the first president of russia boris yeltsin he would have been

eighty today and this would have been one of those rare day that he'd spent together with his family his wife played she never really tried to play first lady and their relations were always away from then media spotlight today. is my guest. the dedication to the great to have. the charisma to present young son to cuba i can of the new russia from the wreckage of the soviet empire he saw people adoring him new now inches and became less popular in his late presidency. boris yeltsin said the media freak the media page him back badly never missing a chance to sting him look you'll see new had the power to go through everything wife nineteen was near. me.

thank you for being with us on the show today as we commemorate. i'd like to ask you do you remember the day when your husband came home as president. do you remember the late one nine hundred eighty s. and early one nine hundred ninety. s. . russia was boiling. everyone most strongly politicized and wish to change is. boris yeltsin was one of the most prominent figures at the time. participated in rallies to look forward to change is. election else. in the first place there was something he began with his original pronouncements were about the need for this country to live differently. and then there came the first elections. when hundreds of thousands of people attended

rallies all over the country. that on the election day we were at home because we had voted early in the morning. but later in the day had a meeting with his support team and some other meetings in the evening when the vote count began and we were of course anxiously watching the returns come in. it goes without saying that we wanted to when. you were hammering out to your home and watching t.v. . at the end of the day when it became clear that the majority as the count shared was for boris yeltsin and that he was winning in the first round we were of course very happy. late at night we had a little problem to celebration. it was quite an emotional moment. but the tension was immense and we were all up tight not knowing how things would

shape out. there were so many commissions at all polling stations watching that the ballot should unfold to the right way. you should remember those days. absolutely and. of course all those commissions represented the communists because boris yeltsin had practically nobody to money toward the process but in the morning it was always a clear that he hadn't won in the first round so he just left for his office as usual and from that time on the family didn't see a lot of him did you. know we didn't and there was only work the met on sundays. introduced the institution of first lady in this country she was the first president's wife to start making public appearances she became a public person why didn't you take that role upon yourself why has the institution

as such feel to take root in russia did you really think about. no i never thought about that i just behaved the way i believed i should. if some official functions were held i was present if there were none i wasn't present if i had to attend some of em to loan when for example foreign presidents with wives were paying a visit to this country i did dot sometimes i accompanied them on various trips to some of russia's provinces. most of the events were here in moscow. we visited hospitals schools often edges various centers and on the how i tried to act naturally because i had had no special schooling. do you think it is inevitable that people. when he's on top then torrents of fill some him after he steps down is that some sort of compensation or balance maybe

what do you think or does a revolving prevail over praise you know it's not praise that i'm looking for i'm not saying yeltsin should be praised personally i don't enjoy is out. listen we'll have to move in fifty years since the last year was head of the love screeching and there was nothing of the kinds there nothing at all we didn't commit ourselves in anything that would unwind this sort of massive abuse that was. a minimalist like all normal people and there was no problem without. but then we came here and it all began. with. as early as nine hundred eighty seven and the trial persisted into his presidency. this is why it was very hard to accept this torrent of injustice right away.

and i knew very well. that things will end up this way you know not that they will end up this way. but that it was a difficult period the yeltsin presidency was a very difficult and trying period. i was well aware that people too were having it the hard way. their life was a very difficult one. you just said an amazing thing you said there was the period of presidency life for me and for other people all over the world. the first president of russia ordinary people he was president and nobody else while to you it is but a small period in episode in his life is this how you see. video now of course not i think it was in the new with period it went fast but it eclipsed

everything else that. those were tremendously stressful years besides nine years this is a mythic and period by any measure. and while it was a stressful time ever since we moved to moscow in one thousand eighty five. when you personally think was the most important thing that he also accomplished in his life. well for me personally and for all our family and for all russian people i think he did the most important thing he gave people freedom you have no doubts about that this is the most important thing to us now i have no doubt i'm sure that what he did can never be revised. this country's past cannot be brought back. so that you see he gave people freedom that is true but than the advent of free market made millions of people poor the free press

reports quite a lot of painful critique on him and you mentioned. has there ever been any regret about that freedom that he gave to people do you remember in want economic situations the country was in the late one nine hundred eighty s. i mean one nine hundred eighty seven eighty eight eighty nine it was critical it was a time when there were ration cards and when there was nothing at all in stores and more importantly there was nothing left to stock them up when he became president in one thousand nine hundred one when what did he have to do. was sit and wait for rights to again after i remember very well when president mitterrand came with a visit in one thousand nine hundred ninety one and then chancellor kohl came later . but they both said the same saying. the court would know actually mitterrand said that in one thousand nine hundred five when he

came to russia to attend the b. day celebrations. but. he was already very ill at the time we had a long conversation and he said you know i came here because of your husband that you were i think mr president did everything possible to save people. not only in russia but also in europe and the whole world he said we he meant europe by guys had stopped giving money to go which of the time yeltsin started challenging him with the evidence and chancellor kohl said exactly the same thing he said in the us assad was not repaying any loans so mitterrand sad can you imagine what it would have been if salman broke out in such a multinational country as yours it would have been much worse than yugoslavia. they were afraid there would be war no they were sure of that and we are

a nuclear power and by containing all that and mr mitterrand's words that boris yeltsin not only saved russia but also europe and the world says. he also spotlight will be back shortly we'll continue this a little bit in less than a minute so stay with us. look. this is not a theatrical set. this is a real correctional facility. but is there any cultural life bodyguards. could transform a criminal it will your bodies. it isn't. really revolutionized the penitentiary system.

we use special altrincham an accessory quick moment. to. became their gravity. as it should and those people were hurt in the premiss long. term. soak in a free flight. for the full story we've got it first hand the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. it is easy to.

see. the be. welcome back to spotlight i'm alway and often just a reminder that my guest on the show today is. the widow of the late russian president boris yeltsin. mrs your husband a son in the political summit swiftly and i witnessed. after that however his popularity began to fall prior to that there was no such tradition in russia to evaluate popularity but know this was happening before our eyes the poor rating was

falling there free press which he created and began to attack him and his family. did he personally feel hurt was he offended how did he react. when he was an intelligent and wise person and a real statesman who. was in need of that i would saying that the biggest cause is to live at the time of reforms. or. especially if you yourself launched the change right and he was well aware of what he was risking. doll was much criticised to know what it was called shocks are a pain. however due to the shortage of food those measures were inevitable. today some say they should have done it gradually. but how can

a starving person wait for six months to be fed lordly or that. urgent measures had to be taken which meant shock therapy. at the. pumps there could have been a better name for that therapy but essentially the task was to radically change the situation in the country over a short period of time. i remember boris yeltsin much the head of his cabinet and had a very long conversation darr was a top expert on economics and he explained the situation to yeltsin very clearly. more results in himself was very competent in economic affairs and he understood gaidar perfectly there were that's why he made the decision that transition to market economy was the only possible way and today we see he was right. as to why it was carried out not gradually but to twins well look at the result the

country did go through this and survived and one thousand nine hundred ninety three the market was being filled with product. and one boris yeltsin hundred over the country to the duma put an arm out it was nearly the same as in europe with everything from supermarkets to boutiques in a more aggression had become a european country. well now let's take a look at the years of boris yeltsin presidency in a report by spotlights to me that. if you go for worse yeltsin. the first videos you get what's called his funny moment bluffing dancing trying to can. doing other things none of his predecessors had ever done this eccentric behavior when del history but that's just a tiny part of a complex personality who brought so much change to his country from the very

beginning of yeltsin's political career his image was far from that of a typical soviet bureaucrat mingling with the crowd was his normal practice in one thousand nine to one he became the first popularly elected president of the russian federation two months later amid a coup by a group of common is told linus urged people to defend democracy and that's what declaring illegal all the decisions in decreased by the state of emergency committee yeltsin issued a ban on the communist party which added to the euphoria of the freedom of the time however this was followed by much less popular decision to dissolve the u.s.s.r. and the real blow to yeltsin's popularity was the economic reforms of the one nine hundred ninety s. labeled shock therapy. nineteen ninety three so violent confrontation when yeltsin eventually made a decision to shell the russian white house. the new

constitution adopted afterwards would give more power to the president yeltsin received support from world leaders russia's relations with the e.u. and the us improved greatly he stood up for freedom and democracy and openness he really believes that russia couldn't go back to communism or back further to extreme nationalism what the west could never forgive yeltsin for do was war in chechnya in one thousand and two foremost sent troops there in an attempt to restore control over the territory. and then to man to see. it contained for his second term and was reelected though the vote was not so much for him but mostly against he's come in they stopped. second term was marred by serious health problems and the reddick behavior. in one thousand nine hundred nine he chose his successor and announced his resignation.

then this. you said very see olson was a wise politician. did many in politics including gorbachev however is it true that he's political moves were based mostly on intuition or did he consider his every move thoroughly you know how he needed is better than anybody you know what was he like a chess master or not i can't call him unpredictable you never acted on the spur of the moment of course the measure of been some situation where he had to act quickly what was he in the pulse of. it would always think through all his moves and his intuition was outstanding he had gone through good training. no ten years he was in charge of a major industrial region of the globe the second that in the soviet union in terms

of industrial output which means a lot. during that time the region invariably achieved a good result which also means a lot had to make very serious decisions and he never made any mistakes during that time. the regional executive committee chairman often asked me to take good care of boris because he sat there had never been a single case where he would make a bad decision that to you means a lot. so his reputation over politician is false. he was a very serious and thoughtful person each time he had to make an important decision he would sound out other people without telling them about his own position. all he had his way of doing that at the. other people's advice he would always discuss his decision and both instead love going to moscow with his team. and he

had a very good team with the argo gaidar viktor chernomyrdin alexander the last in anatoly . bunch of. the were all on the team and many other is some of the must still working. they often had a very heated discussions and boris yeltsin would always hear out everyone. of course sometimes if he was convinced that his decision was good and if he managed to persuade his team he made executive decisions but those decisions of course were not made on the spur of the moment. and said he wanted. with a new president. in fact he was mistaken because the new millennium did not start until a year later. was it an emotional move on his part when he mentioned. part

of a big political gain maybe in handing over the authority. attorney rate and also the year two thousand was considered a landmark in a way that the beginning of a new era. under the new millennium was not far away. so it was a nice way to do it. his biggest concern that was the legacy and should take place in a calm atmosphere and that's what he was thinking about this than yes but still he wanted the person he endorsed to be elected without turmoil. and when he chose the duma put ten. his first appointed him prime minister and people came to know and understand. once more if the elton thought that pushing was becoming popular with people he stepped down. so the decision was not impulsive either

everything had been fairly considered after he resigned we didn't see much of him he spent most of the time here in this house did he change march after his resignation. he did not change at all how can a person change he never changed he didn't change when he became president and he didn't change after he resigned as to what he did his lifestyle was pretty active yes we travelled a lot to round russia and abroad. for example we went on fishing trips to norway and iceland it was fun when chirac invited us to stay nice for a week. so you traveled what we did of course would also traveled much during his presidency but at that time you could only see the

world through the window of his car as those were official visits. my next question may sound odd but are you going he was able to spend his last years with you. of kools all of us in the family was so how do. you not own a trip he was always with me to spend time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. all enjoyed being with him. it was interesting to talk to him and just spend time with him all he knew hard to make people happy would go fishing together for example. is it true that after his resignation he lost half of those considered he's friends. absolutely not all the friends who had been with him during his presidency remained with him. even

today his friends stay in touch with me. very well your eyes are kind. because that means you are happy. my contrail is say i'm happy today because my husband is not with me but i am happy person because i have wonderful daughters wonderful sons in law wonderful grandchildren and great grandchildren all these things naturally make me happy and i have to hold on for the sake of my children and for the memory of boris yeltsin. the rogue as long as i live on the memory of him is quite different because hand myself on one and for me i consider myself happy of course well because for more than fifty eggs i lived with boris yeltsin where this outstanding extraordinary and

wonderful passon. supposed to be a special place for thank you very much for being with us in just your lawyer that my guest on the show today was like yeltsin left with the late bush will close that for seals and that's it for all for all of us who will be back with more until then stay on russia today and take. you to the to the arab.