Russia bid a solemn farewell today to Boris Yeltsin, its first post-Soviet leader, in a funeral presided over by some two dozen priests and dignitaries including President Vladimir Putin and two former US leaders.
Before the funeral in central Moscow, more than 20,000 people filed through the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to view the body of Yeltsin, who died on Monday, aged 76. After the viewing ended, dignitaries including former US presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush arrived and offered condolences to Yeltsin's widow Naina.
Mr Yeltsin is to be buried in Novodevichy Cemetery, which holds the graves of many prominent Russian authors, musicians and artists.
Many countries sent lower-ranked retired politicians and diplomats to the funeral - a reflection of the funeral's quick timing but also perhaps of Yeltsin's uncertain legacy as unsteady democrat, Communist scourge and incomplete reformer.
The funeral was attended by Ireland's Ambassador to Russia, Justin Harman.
Yeltsin is widely remembered for his bold and principled stand against the 1990 hardline Communist coup attempt against Gorbachev and for launching Russia on the path to political pluralism.
However, Yeltsin disappointed Russians by failing to bring political, economic and social stability to the nation.
Many were outraged, as well, by his sale of the nation's industrial might and natural resources in shadowy auctions, by the disintegration of the public health care system and by pensions that turned to cinders in the fires of raging inflation.
AP