in recent russian history few personalities remain a spoiler arising as boris yeltsin twenty years after the fall of the soviet union yeltsin is still seen in the west as the politician who ended communism and ushered in in a new area of personal freedoms and western style capitalism but sure if anything you are just better perceived from a distance especially in history i think we still need more time for the emotions and troubles to give way to serious analysis of what to take tannic figures you'll see and really was in a moment that later became one of russia's most iconic yeltsin with genuine popular support helped to stare down an attempted coup in one thousand nine hundred ninety one yes we declare illegal all of the crazy decisions by the state emergency committee in the us and in the western world yeltsin was seen as a reformer and a leader who could compromise he was embraced as a friend and told he was treated as a peer and when he died in two thousand and seven some of the warmest eulogies came from western leaders he stood up for freedom and democracy and openness he really b

welcome back to talk about the mind you were talking about russia's first president boris yeltsin. egypt. but first here's a brief report on yeltsin's contentious legacy. in recent russian history few personalities remain as polarizing as boris yeltsin twenty years after the fall of the soviet union yeltsin is still seen in the west as the politician who ends of communism and i'm sure of it in the area of personal freedoms and western style capitalism you know but sure that anything you learn just there proceed through the distance especially in history i think we still need more time for the emotions and troubles to give way to serious analysis that would take tenet figure you'll see really what's in a moment that later became one of russia's most iconic yeltsin with genuine popular support helped to stare down an attempted coup in one thousand nine hundred ninety one us we declare illegal all of the creeds and decisions by the state emergency committee in the us and in the western world yeltsin was seen as a reformer and a leader who could compromise he was embraced as a friend an

hello and welcome to cross talk i'm hearing about boris yeltsin was he a great man who made history or was he merely a product of his time opinions differ widely though no one denies the important role he played in creating our present cross-talk continued series from the collapse of the soviet union twenty years ago. to cross-talk yeltsin's russia i'm joined by dmitri barber chair in the studio with me he's a political analyst at ria novosti news agency in washington we have donald jensen he's a resident fellow at the center for transatlantic relations and in london we go to alex probably he is director of russian and eurasian studies center at the university of oxford all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want well the reason why we're doing this we're doing our series here on cross talk on the collapse of the soviet union twenty years ago and twenty years ago on june twelfth one thousand ninety one yeltsin became the first popularly elected president of the russian soviet federated socialist republic or basically the beginning of the de

each other michel gorbachev was the head of the soviet union chosen by communist functionaries boris yeltsin was in charge of a new sovereign russia and promised reform but calling for an open election yeltsin challenged the authority of the communist party over russia. with this victory in the election yeltsin prove that you can stand up to the communist establishment in an open and public manner he did not cut back room deals or try arm protest with this victory ensured that the soviet union could break out without armed conflict. unlike former soviet leaders yeltsin campaign like a democratic politician meeting their electorate and delivering stump speeches at factories and in town squares what at his rallies attracted hundreds of thousands when the election night came we were hopeful would win but we still weren't sure after all it was the communist party that counted the votes but soon enough the results became clear boris yeltsin defeated the communist candidate handily with more than half of the votes. when he led the resistance to a hardline a coup late that out summer his popularity

june twelve nineteen ninety one millions voted to make boris yeltsin russia's first president a watershed moment in the country's history but this was the first free election ever in russia the day after we left behind a totalitarian state and had a new job of building a democratic society that respected the rights of its people by the time the election took place the soviet union had less than a year to live but no one knew how it would disintegrate its fifteen republics began to declare sovereignty one by one while staying a part of the year ceasar provoking unrest and even armed conflict and moscow two leaders also competed against each other mikhail gorbachev was the head of the soviet union chosen by communist functionaries boris yeltsin was in charge of a new sovereign russia and promised reform but calling for an open election yeltsin challenged the authority of the communist party over russia. with this victory in the election yeltsin prove that you can stand up to the communist establishment in an open and public manner he did not cut back room deals or try arm protest with this