Boris Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation, passed away on April 23, 2007. He was hospitalized with a URTI after a vacation to Israel, developed a CHF exacerbation and reportedly had 2 cardiac arrests, the second one of which proved fatal.
Boris Yeltsin was a controversial figure of enormous historical importance. There are many videos on YouTube which show Yeltsin at his best and “worst”, often laugh-provoking, moments. A limited selection can be seen below.
Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton share a laugh in 1995.
href="http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9510/un_50th/minisummit/pm/index.html">A brief explanation is needed to understand to joke: Yeltsin ridiculed the news media for stressing that U.S.-Russian differences were so significant that meeting would be a disaster. Yeltsin says to the reporters: “you were writing that today’s meeting with President Bill Clinton was going to be a disaster. Now for the first time I can tell you — you’re a disaster.”