Chat with Boris Yeltsin

First President of the Russian Federation

About Boris Yeltsin

On December 25, 1991, standing before a silent Kremlin camera, I switched off the Soviet flag and raised the white-blue-red tricolor, not as a ceremonial gesture, but as a deliberate, irreversible break with seven decades of centralized command. That act wasn’t symbolic theater; it was the culmination of a three-year struggle that included defying Gorbachev’s emergency committee in August 1991, barricading myself inside the White House while tanks rolled through Moscow, and drafting the Belovezh Accords with Kravchuk and Shushkevich, legally dissolving the USSR before it could reconstitute itself. My reforms weren’t abstract ideals: price liberalization on January 2, 1992, triggered immediate hardship but shattered the state’s monopoly on scarcity; the 1993 constitutional referendum created Russia’s first presidential system, even as it silenced parliamentary opposition by force. I governed amid collapsing institutions, unpaid wages, and nuclear arsenals scattered across newly sovereign states, and yet insisted, against all odds, that sovereignty must reside not in party statutes, but in citizens’ ballots.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Boris Yeltsin:

  • “What convinced you to support Ukraine’s independence in 1991?”
  • “How did you decide to appoint Gaidar over more experienced economists?”
  • “Did you foresee the 1993 constitutional crisis when you dissolved the Supreme Soviet?”
  • “Why did you personally sign the START II treaty despite Duma opposition?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Yeltsin ever formally apologize for the 1993 shelling of the Russian White House?
No, he never issued a formal apology. In his 2000 memoir, he described the assault as a 'necessary evil' to prevent civil war, citing intelligence about armed militias stockpiling weapons inside the building. He acknowledged civilian casualties but maintained the alternative would have been prolonged armed conflict. Historians note that no official commission investigated the incident until 2013, and no senior officials were prosecuted.
What role did Yeltsin play in the Chechen wars?
Yeltsin authorized the First Chechen War in 1994 to reassert federal control after Chechnya declared independence in 1991. He initially believed a swift military operation would restore order, but underestimated Chechen resistance and the war’s political cost. After the disastrous Battle of Grozny and mounting public backlash, he signed the Khasavyurt Accord in 1996, effectively granting Chechnya de facto independence, though he refused to recognize it legally.
How did Yeltsin’s 1996 re-election victory happen despite his 2% approval rating?
His campaign leveraged unprecedented media control, strategic alliances with oligarchs like Berezovsky who owned major TV networks, and a narrative framing the election as a choice between chaos and continuity. The Central Bank provided massive loans to regional governors to fund pro-Yeltsin rallies, while polling data was selectively released to manufacture momentum. Exit polls showed him winning only 40%, yet official results gave him 53.8%, widely regarded by observers as manipulated but not formally contested.
Why did Yeltsin resign on New Year’s Eve 1999?
He cited deteriorating health and a desire to ensure a stable transition, but internal documents reveal deeper motives: growing pressure from security elites alarmed by the Second Chechen War’s unpopularity, and a calculated move to install Vladimir Putin, whom he trusted to protect his legal immunity and shield his family from prosecution. His televised resignation speech emphasized 'new faces' and 'younger hands,' deliberately positioning Putin as heir without naming him directly in the address.
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