The night-walkers of Uganda

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1. How old was Boris Yeltsin when he died?
2. When was the last time a Russian head of state was buried in a church?
3. For how long was Boris Yeltsin president of Russia?
4. When did the war in Chechnya start?
5. Where were Russian leaders buried in the time of the Soviet Union?
6. How many former American presidents attended Yeltsin’s funeral?
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Russia turns to tradition for Yeltsin 
farewell
Putin, Clinton and Major among mourners at 
Orthodox ceremony. 
Luke Harding in Moscow
April 26, 2007
The funeral of the former Russian president Boris 
Yeltsin took place yesterday in the Novodevichy 
cemetery in Moscow. Yeltsin’s widow, Naina, 
kissed him several times as a last farewell. Then 
the coffin was closed and, as Russia’s national 
anthem played,Yeltsin was buried. Several ex-
world leaders, including Bill Clinton and George 
Bush Snr., were at the funeral. Former UK 
prime minister John Major and the former Polish 
president Lech Walesa were also there. 
Yeltsin was 76 years old when he died from heart 
problems. When he was president of Russia 
there were a lot of historical changes – the end of 
the cold war, the end of the Soviet Union and a 
period of chaos and liberty. Yeltsin’s funeral was 
another sign of changing times. It was the first 
time since 1894 and the death of Tsar Alexander 
III that the funeral of a Russian head of state had 
taken place in a Russian Orthodox church.
In the Soviet Union, Russian leaders were buried 
near the Kremlin Wall. Yeltsin’s funeral took 
place in the cathedral of Christ the Saviour – an 
enormous church not far from the Kremlin. 
Hundreds of mourners stood in line to say 
farewell to Yeltsin. The red, white and blue 
Russian flag lay over his open coffin. Mourners 
walked past one by one, laying flowers. “He 
was a strong man,” Dmitry Samarin, his former 
bodyguard, said outside the church. Was he a 
good leader? “History is a very difficult thing,” he 
replied carefully. “He defeated the communist 
leadership. He was the only person who could do 
that.” 
Arytom Leonidovich, a 26-year-old architect, said 
it was a complicated question. “I think history 
will say that he did more positive than negative 
things. The fall of the Soviet Union was mostly 
because of Yeltsin. “He also had many human 
qualities. He was a kind man, very different from 
the leaders we’ve got now.” 
Russian state television broadcast hours of 
programmes about Yeltsin. Flags around Moscow 
were at half-mast. But many ordinary Russians 
clearly still think Yeltsin’s seven and a half years 
as president were a disaster for Russia. Only 
a few people were on the streets watching as 
the funeral cars drove past. There were few 
mourners along the funeral route. Russians do 
not really know what to think about Yeltsin. Some 
say he was good because he brought freedom; 
others say he gave state companies to rich 
private owners and was bad for the country’s 
image when he was drunk in public. 
Yeltsin’s biggest mistake was to order Russian 
forces to attack Chechen rebels in 1994 but 
the TV programmes did not discuss this. They 
concentrated on the good things – Yeltsin’s 
friendly relationship with ordinary Russians and 
his love for his children and grandchildren. There 
was a minute’s silence for Yeltsin in the Russian 
parliament yesterday but communist MPs did not 
stand up. “We will never give honour to this man 
because he destroyed our country,” communist 
MP Viktor Ilyukhin said. 
Other former enemies were more generous. 
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev – who 
lost his job when Yeltsin ended the Soviet Union 
– kissed his widow and offered his sympathy. 
John Major and Bill Clinton offered their 
sympathy. Mr Putin and his wife, Ludmilla, stood 
silently nearby. Every member of the Russian 
government was there, including Sergei Ivanov 
and Dmitry Medvedev, the two men who will 
probably be in next year’s presidential election. 
Roman Abramovich, a billionaire who made his 
money thanks to Yeltsin, was also at the funeral.
During the funeral, bearded priests sang and 
said prayers for Yeltsin. Metropolitan Yuvenaly, 
the second most senior cleric in the Orthodox 
church, told mourners Yeltsin had given people