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Moscow: The Russian political elite gathered on Wednesday to pay respects to Boris Yeltsin on the first anniversary of his death and unveil a monument to the man who dismantled the Soviet Union and brought political and economic freedoms to Russia.
President Vladimir Putin praised his predecessor in a short address at Yeltsin's grave in the Novodevichy Cemetery, where Yeltsin's family was joined by a few hundred selected guests, including President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, government ministers and the atriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"The turbulent 1990s were a time of rapid change and bold, extraordinary people, able to go against the tide, to reach for new goals and take the people along with them," Putin said. "Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, without any exaggeration, belongs among just such a Pleiade."
Under Putin, the eight years of Yeltsin's rule following the 1991 Soviet collapse have largely been cast as a time of social degradation, political chaos and economic collapse.
But since Yeltsin's death the Kremlin has lauded his role in turning Russia into an "open and self-reliant country," as Putin put it Wednesday in the nationally televised ceremony.
As Putin prepares to turn over the Kremlin next month to his protege Medvedev, he expressed his gratitude to Yeltsin for creating a strong presidency that "will continue to serve the people of Russia and defend the sovereign interests of the country."
Yeltsin's widow, Naina, and two daughters laid flowers at the monument to Yeltsin unveiled at his grave in the Moscow cemetery, the leafy burial place of famous Russian artists, politicians and military heroes.
Yeltsin was 76 when he died a year ago of heart failure.
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