Title: Boris Yeltsin – Russiapedia Leaders Prominent Russians
Headings: Prominent Russians:
Boris Yeltsin

Prominent Russians: Boris Yeltsin
February 1, 1931 – April 23, 2007

Content: With Gorbachev on vacation in the Crimea, they attempted a coup. The Soviet leader was put under house arrest for three days. Back in Moscow, troops surround the White House – the parliament building, now home to the Russian government. Yeltsin spearheaded the resistance. Condemning
AFP Photo
the coup, he climbed on a tank and rallied mass opposition, turning into a popular hero. The coup was effectively deflated and Gorbachev returned to Moscow but support had already swung over to Yeltsin. Things were spinning out of Gorbachev’s control. In November, Yeltsin signed a decree banning the Communist Party in Russia. In early December, Ukraine voted for independence from the Soviet Union. A week later, on December 8, 1991 Yeltsin held a secret meeting with the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus in the Belarusian Belovezh Forest.