Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1931–2007) was a Russian politician who became the first president of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. He is best known for overseeing the end of the Soviet Union and leading Russia’s turbulent transition from a planned economy to a market-oriented system.

Early life and rise

Yeltsin was born on 1 February 1931 in Butka, in the Sverdlovsk region of the Russian SFSR (now Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia). He trained and worked as a construction engineer before rising through the ranks of the Communist Party in the industrial city of Sverdlovsk.

In the 1980s, he was brought to Moscow and became first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, effectively the city’s party boss. Initially a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev’s perestroika, he became an outspoken critic of the slow pace of reforms, which led to his removal from top party posts and helped make him a popular anti-establishment figure.

Role in Soviet collapse

In 1990, Yeltsin was elected chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet (the Russian republic’s parliament) and then left the Communist Party, signalling a clear break with the Soviet establishment. In June 1991 he became the first directly elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, defeating the candidate backed by Gorbachev.

During the August 1991 coup attempt by hardline communists, Yeltsin famously stood on a tank outside the Russian “White House” in Moscow to rally resistance, which turned him into the most powerful political figure in the country. In December 1991 he signed agreements with the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus that created the Commonwealth of Independent States, effectively dissolving the Soviet Union.

Presidency of Russia

As president of an independent Russia, Yeltsin launched radical “shock therapy” reforms in 1992, freeing most prices, cutting subsidies, and pushing rapid privatization to move from a command economy to capitalism. These policies helped dismantle the Soviet economic system but were accompanied by hyperinflation, a sharp fall in output and living standards, and the rise of powerful oligarchs.

Yeltsin faced major political conflict with the Russian parliament, culminating in the 1993 constitutional crisis when he dissolved the legislature and used loyal troops and tanks to forcefully end an armed opposition in Moscow. A new constitution adopted later that year greatly strengthened presidential powers and set the basic structure of Russia’s post- Soviet political system.

War and re-election

His tenure included the First Chechen War (1994–1996), a brutal conflict in which Russian forces fought separatists in Chechnya, causing heavy casualties and damaging his domestic standing. Despite deep economic hardship and declining popularity, he won re-election in 1996 in a hard-fought campaign against Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

Throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, Yeltsin’s presidency was marked by economic instability, corruption scandals, and frequent illnesses, which raised concerns about governance. Nonetheless, multi-party elections and a relatively open media environment persisted, shaping Russia’s early post-Soviet political landscape.

Resignation and legacy

Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned on 31 December 1999, appointing then–prime minister Vladimir Putin as acting president and effectively designating him as successor. Yeltsin died on 23 April 2007 in Moscow and was buried with state honors, reflecting his status as a historic leader despite controversies.

His legacy is widely seen as mixed: he is credited with helping end Soviet communism, preventing a return to hardline rule in 1991, and introducing electoral politics to Russia, but also blamed for economic collapse, mass poverty, and the chaotic rise of oligarchic capitalism in the 1990s. Debates about Yeltsin continue to shape how Russians and historians understand the country’s post-Soviet transition.