Death and state funeral of Boris Yeltsin
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| Date | April 24, 2007 – April 25, 2007 |
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| Location | Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow |
| Participants | Vladimir Putin, Sergey Sobyanin, Naina Yeltsina, Mikhail Fradkov, Dmitry Medvedev and others |
On April 23, 2007, Boris Yeltsin, 1st President of Russia, died of cardiac arrest. For 12 days before his death, he was admitted to the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.
His funeral was held on 25 April 2007. By decree of the President of Russia, published on the day of the death of Boris Yeltsin, national mourning was declared on the day of his funeral.[1] The ceremony was broadcast live on the main Russian state TV channels. The funeral was attended by current and former heads of state, and a number of them expressed their condolences. During the lowering of the coffin into the grave he was given an artillery salute.
Boris Yeltsin was the first Russian head of state in 113 years to be buried in a church ceremony, after Emperor Alexander III.[2]
Last illness and cause of death
Yeltsin died 3:45 p.m. Moscow time at the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of heart failure caused by progressive multiple organ failure.[3][4] Yeltsin was hospitalized for 12 days before his death.[5][6] In his last week, Boris Yeltsin was almost all the time bedridden. His heart ached, and a sharp deterioration in his health status occurred in the past 3 days. On the morning of April 23 came a slight improvement, but then the first president of Russia experienced two cardiac arrests.[7] The first time doctors were able to return him to life, but the second time they could not help him. However, according to Renata Akchurina, the heart surgeon who in 1996 performed a bypass surgery on Boris Yeltsin, the former President's death, "nothing foretold." At the request of the relatives of Boris Yeltsin, the autopsy of his body was carried out.
Shortly before his death, Yeltsin traveled to the Middle East (Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories), which, according to some doctors, could have contributed to the deterioration of his health.[8]
President Vladimir Putin telephoned Naina Yeltsin April 25, 2007. Also expressed their condolences to Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, George W. Bush, Lech Kaczynski, Helmut Kohl, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.
A minute of silence and mourning was held to honor the memory of the First President by the students and the staff of his native Urals State Technical University.
Farewell ceremony and burial service
Farewell ceremony for Boris Yeltsin began at 16:30 Moscow time on April 24, 2007 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. With open coffin, covered in the legs Russian flag was placed in the center of the Temple. Near the coffin stood a stand with awards achieved by the First President of Russia and his portrait. Nearby were honor guard soldiers Kremlin Regiment. The entrance to the temple was open all evening and all night so everyone could say goodbye to the body. According to news reports, around 25,000 people came to bid farewell to Boris Yeltsin in the Temple of Christ the Savior.[9] At the memorial service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were constantly present and accepted condolences to the Yeltsin family members: widow Naina, daughters Elena Okulova and Tatyana Dyachenko and Boris Yeltsin's grandchildren. Requiem liturgy was made by vicar of the Moscow diocese, Archbishop Arseny (Epifanov).
After the ceremony, the civil farewell, which ended at 12:30 pm on April 25, a farewell was held for officials and representatives of foreign states.
The funeral service was led by Metropolitan Krutitsy and Kolomna Juvenal (Poyarkov), assisted by Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) and Clement (Kapalin). Metropolitan Juvenal read message was absent due to the hospitalization of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II to Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin's family and to all believers. During the reading of the Psalms, the funeral and the funeral lithium Yeltsin was remembered as "First President of Russia Boris Nikolayevich," and not a "servant of God, Boris," as in the usual case. Thus the fact was emphasized that the President is the modern Russian equivalent to the monarch: the use of titles and patronymic name corresponds to the formula heave offering of the monarch and members of the royal house to the abdication of Nicholas II.
The funeral
The coffin with the body of Boris Yeltsin was closed, then carried out of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and into the hearse, escorted by motorcyclists, delivered to the Novodevichy streets. Then, the officers carried the coffin from the hearse and placed it on a gun carriage decorated with the national flag, which was pulling an armored personnel carrier. Before the gates of the Novodevichy cemetery for the funeral procession moved on foot gun carriage. Yeltsin's coffin was removed from the mast, and 8 officers made it to the gates of the cemetery in her arms, with a bell of the Novodevichy Convent. Procession proceeded to the place of burial in the central avenue of the Novodevichy cemetery, where the grave had already been dug in front of which stood a small hearse. The Russian flag was removed from the Coffin and handed over to Sergey Sobyanin, who in its turn gave it to Naina Yeltsina.
Then the coffin was removed and opened the lid of the deceased person. Metropolitan Juvenal appealed to Yeltsin's family, after which the first Yelena Okulova, then Tatyana Dyachenko, and finally, Naina Yeltsin approached one by one to the coffin of Boris Yeltsin and were applied to the deceased. After that, there was a final memorial on lithium Yeltsin headed by Metropolitan Juvenal, assisted by Metropolitan Kirill and Kliment; "Eternal Memory" deceased singing female chorus of the Novodevichy Convent. Metropolitan Juvenal put on Yeltsin's brow corolla.
About 16:30 pm, after the lithium, the coffin was closed, decorated with flowers and lowered into the grave, with the coffin down into the grave accompanied by artillery salute (3 volleys), a military band played the Russian anthem.
After the funeral, a funeral reception in the Kremlin on behalf of Boris Yeltsin was held, where the sole of his that day speech, Vladimir Putin.
Guests
At Yeltsin's funeral was attended by many foreign guests. These were former and current heads of state: former US Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former Presidents of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus Stanislau Shushkevich, the President of Armenia Robert Kocharian, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Okil Okilov, President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus and former President Algirdas Brazauskas, President of Latvia, Vaira Vike-Freiberga and former president Guntis Ulmanis, President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev and former President of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Nino Burjanadze, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, President of Germany Horst Köhler and the former Chancellors Gerhard Schroeder and Helmut Kohl, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, former UK Prime Minister John Major, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Spain María Emilia Casas, the former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto, the former President of Bulgaria Zhelyu Zhelev and former Polish President Lech Walesa.
Gallery
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The coffin with the body of Boris Yeltsin in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
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Prime Minister Fradkov and President Putin.
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Boris Yeltsin's coffin was being taken to the cemetery
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Boris Yeltsin's coffin was carried to grave.
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Family of Boris Yeltsin
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Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Ludmila Putina and George H. W. Bush.
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Vladimir Putin and his wife laying flowers on the grave of Boris Yeltsin.
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Vladimir Putin, Naina Yeltsina and Leonid Kuchma.
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Vladimir Putin delivers a speech.
Perpetuation of the memory
On April 8, 2008 in Yekaterinburg, where Boris Yeltsin had lived and worked a long time, January 9 street was renamed the Boris Yeltsin street.
On April 23, 2008 at Novodevichy Cemetery a grand opening ceremony was held for the monument to Boris Yeltsin, made by sculptor Georgy Frangulyan. The memorial is a broad headstone, made in the colors of the Russian flag - a white marble, blue Byzantine mosaics and red porphyry. On the pavement under the tricolor is an engraved Orthodox cross. The ceremony was attended by Boris Yeltsin's family, including widow, Naina, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president-elect Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergey Sobyanin, government members, friends, colleagues and people who worked with the first President of the Russian Federation.
On April 23, 2008 Ural State Technical University was given the name of Boris Yeltsin.[10]
On January 25, 2015 in Yekaterinburg the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center opened.[11]
References
- ↑ Decree "On the declaration of mourning over the death of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin and his funeral"
- ↑ "Yeltsin, the man who buried communism"
- ↑ It named the cause of the death of Boris Yeltsin.
- ↑ It named the official cause of death of Boris Yeltsin
- ↑ Yeltsin was hospitalized for 12 days before his death
- ↑ Doctors fought for Boris Yeltsin's life 12 days
- ↑ Yeltsin's heart stopped twice
- ↑ The first president could not stand the heart
- ↑ At Yeltsin's funeral were about 25 thousand people
- ↑ Ural State Technical University was given the name of Boris Yeltsin
- ↑ Opening Yeltsin Center
