Boris Yeltsin — "The breakup of the Soviet Union was a necessary step. It was inevitable."
The breakup of the Soviet Union was a necessary step. It was inevitable.
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More from Boris Yeltsin
"The greatest victory is to overcome oneself."
"The greatest challenge is to overcome our own prejudices."
"I will never betray Russia."
"The greatest enemy of Russia is not outside, but inside. It is bureaucracy."
"We need to get rid of this bureaucratic monster."
About Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007)
First president of post-Soviet Russia (1991-1999), who climbed atop a tank to defy the August 1991 coup and oversaw the chaotic privatization of the 1990s. Closely associated with Mikhail Gorbachev (his predecessor and rival reformer). For an intellectual contrast, see Gennady Zyuganov, Russian Communist Party leader — Zyuganov came within 3 percentage points of beating the ailing Yeltsin in the 1996 presidential runoff — the closest free election Russia has had, and arguably the moment that decided whether Russia would reverse to communism or continue down the path that led to Putin.