Boris Yeltsin dies of heart failure

The former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died. The Kremlin has confirmed the death of the 76-year-old who had been suffering health problems for years. Doctors say he died of heart failure.

Boris Yeltsin is known as the man who oversaw the dismantling of the Soviet Union and his country’s move towards a free market economy. He ruled Russia from 1991 to 99, when he was replaced by Vladimir Putin.

The former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said: “I express my deepest condolences to the Yeltsin family on whose shoulders rest major events for the good of the country and serious mistakes.” The White House said Yeltsin was an “historic figure during a time of great change and challenge for Russia”.

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