Boris Yeltsin RIP

Boris Yeltsin, 76, just died. He was the first President of the new Russian Republic after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Yeltsin worked his way up as an apparatchik, a part of the Soviet political system. He is famously remembered for his stand against a coup plot aimed at Gorbachev. He defiantly stood atop a tank & challenged the coup leaders - an act that could have easily resulted in his death.

His stand rallied the people of Russia & the coup was thwarted.

He was an unlikely hero who rose to defy those who would defeat democracy.

RIP

We don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. Freedom is like that. It's like air. When you have it, you don't notice it. - Boris Yetlsin