Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by winning 89% of the vote. The victory was certain to accelerate reforms across the Soviet Union and it cleared the way for him to travel to the Soviet Union next Thursday , at the invitation of The White House , in a demonstration of independence from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev . The White House applauded his election as a "good sign" for democracy and said he would visit here next week . However, democracy is still in its infancy in Russia . ; Source: Election officials say they are laboriously counting paper ballots cast at each of 98,000 polling stations.
Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian republic by winning 89% of the vote. The victory was certain to accelerate reforms across the Soviet Union and it cleared the way for him to travel to the Soviet Union next Thursday , at the invitation of The White House , in a demonstration of independence from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev . The White House applauded his election as a "good sign" for democracy and said he would visit here next week . However, democracy is still in its infancy in Russia . Election officials say they are laboriously counting paper ballots cast at each of 98,000 polling stations.