Boris Yeltsin: The Tsar of Opportunists

What a blinkered view of history some people have. Boris Yeltsin was no hero. He was an opportunist.

He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for nearly 30 years. It was by virtue of being a member of the CPSU that he was able to climb the political ladder to become president of communist Russia. But, like so many communists in Eastern Europe, when he saw that communism's days were numbered, he suddenly switched sides and became a "democrat". When hard line communists staged a coup in 1991 Yeltsin, being at the right place at the right time, was able label himself a "democrat" and seize power for himself. But Yeltsin was no "democrat".

In 1993 the democratically elected Russian parliament refused to give Yeltsin dictatorial powers. Yeltsin replied by using tanks to shell the parliament. What a "democrat"! This wasn't the end of Yeltsin's brutality.

In 1994 Yeltsin ordered the military invasion of Chechnya. The Russian army laid waste to Chechnya, especially its capital Grozny. Over one hundred thousand civilians were murdered by the Russian army, millions were made refugees. This barbarism by the Russian army against the Muslim Chechnyans was to leave a long lasting legacy that is still being felt by the world.

Some of the most devastating crimes committed by Yeltsin were economic. He handed over Russia's nationalised industrial assets and vast natural wealth to a handful of people at a knockdown price. These handful of people became multi-billionaires overnight. But millions of ordinary Russians were plunged into economic misery. Millions lost their jobs as factories were closed. The country was hit by hyperinflation. The brave Russian people, whose stoic resistance had saved the world from Nazi rule, were forced to beg in the streets and rummage through bins for scraps of food. Many tried to drown their misery at the bottom of a bottle of vodka.

Under Yeltsin's rule the Russian mafia grew to eclipse the Italian mafia. The Russian mafia is now responsible for organised crime in every corner of the world. Most of the drug trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking and internet fraud committed in the world is being organised by the Russian mafia. The Russian mafia is so big now that it controls thousands of "legitimate" companies across the world, ranging from energy companies to football clubs (Chelski FC).

The Russia Yeltsin built was a shadow of the country that defeated Hitler. The gap between the rich and poor is worse than under the rule of the Tsars. Before Yeltsin took power the Russian health service was one of the best and most advanced in the world. Today most Russians don't have access to health care. Millions of Russians are addicted to vodka. Life expectancy is actually falling. This, coupled with the low birth rate, means that Russia's population is expected fall significantly over the coming decades.

But perhaps Yeltsin's worst crime, a crime that history will never forgive him for, is that he gave the world Vladimir Putin!