Russia - Yeltsin praised for attending Tsar burial
T/I: 11:03:26
President Yeltsin's last minute decision to attend Friday's (17/07) funeral of Russia's last Tsar was hailed as a mark of statemanship by his political allies. Yeltsin, on leaving the ceremony in Peter and Paul fortress in St Petersburg, told city governor Vladimir Yakovlev the event could not have been more dignified or classic. Yeltsin's arrival and departure from St Petersburg paralysed the city's road and prompted the arrival of Kremlin security in the northern Russian city.
SHOWS:
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 17/07
WS entrance to cathedral,
MS Russian President Borris Yeltsin exits and waves,
MS Yeltsin walks past;
WS Ethnographical Museum, St Petersburg,
Nemtsov and Yakovlev exit car;
SOT Russian deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov (in Russian), Everything was conducted quietly and modestly...as it should have been.;
CA cameras;
SOT St Petersburg governor Vladimir Yakovlev (in Russian), The very fact that the President took part, that probably shows the stately nature, that the President attributes the greatest possible meaning to this event. That's how it should be. History never forgives anyone.;
Yakovlev, Nemtsov go into building,
CU flags;
SOT Nikolai Romanovich Romanov (in English), The president did the right thing, he came, so its all perfectly beautiful. It had to be done, it's been done, and now forget it. Look forward.
2.02
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RUSSIA: ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHRISTMAS
Russian/Nat
Russian Christians celebrated the Orthodox Christmas on Friday, in what has become a public holiday in post-communist Russia.
Churches across the Russian capital were packed as Muscovites marked the birth of Christ, according to the old Julian calendar used by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Public holidays have always been an opportunity for Russians to celebrate age-old folk traditions and Christmas Day was no exception.
At the Kolomenskoye Museum, the summer residence of eighteenth century Tsars including Peter the Great, crowds watched as musicians played in the snowy open-air.
Elsewhere in the city, Christmas Day dog-sled races evoked another old tradition of imperial Russia.
During Russia's 70 years of communist rule, Christmas celebrations and other religious festivals were banned.
Even in this new climate of religious tolerance, the Orthodox Christmas is a low-key affair, playing second fiddle to the more colourful Easter celebrations.
For most it's just a chance to have a day off work and to stroll the streets of Moscow at leisure.
Families crowded into Moscow's central Pushkin Square to admire ice sculptures, while couples strolled in and out of stores that remained open along Tverskaya Street, leading to the Kremlin.
The culmination of the religious festivities is to be an evening Christmas service conducted by Patriarch Alexy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the restored Christ Saviour cathedral.
The patriarch returned to Moscow on Friday after accompanying former President Boris Yeltsin to Israel to mark Christmas with other Orthodox leaders.
The imposing, gold-domed cathedral, on the banks of the Moscow River, was sanctified on New Year's Eve so that it could be used for the capital's main Christmas Day service.
It was built over the last five years on the site of a cathedral that was blown up on orders of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
I don't think about politics at all when there's a holiday. Maybe on work days, but a holiday is a holiday and now I just want to have a rest.
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
It's just a holiday, but you don't notice it as a spiritual holiday. It just feels like the continuation of New Year. Everyone's lively, happy. It doesn't feel like a Christian holiday.
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
This year Christmas has coincided with the start of the third millennium. I think it's a big holiday and it's close to everybody's heart.
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop
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LIVE: Vladimir Putin to take part in the Eurasian Economic Council supreme meeting
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in the Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg on Friday, December 20.
The event is expected to be attended by Moldavian President Igor Dodon, Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliev, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, among other leaders.
Schedule subject to change:
09.50 GMT – Leaders arrival to the Presidential Library named after Boris Yeltsin
10.00 GMT – Protocol meeting in the narrow format
11.20 GMT – Arrival of Moldavian President Igor Dodon
11.30 GMT – Protocol meeting in the expanded format
12.30 GMT– Arrivals of Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliev, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon
12.40 GMT – Visit of the exhibition dedicated to the beginning of WWII
13.00 GMT– Family photo
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Russia - Clinton Becomes A Tourist
T/I: 10:29:41
US President Bill Clinton arrived in St Petersburg on Thursday
night (18/4) where he toured the glittering summer palace of the
Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Clinton went to the palace, which is situated on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, after a ten-hour flight from Tokyo. At the palace, which is being restored after being damaged in World War II, a ten man-band dressed in 19th Century costume played martial music as Clinton arrived.
SHOWS:
ST PETERSBURG, 19/4
Church towers of Summer Palace of Catherine the Great
pan over to soldiers;
Band playing;
Zoom into President Bill Clinton walking along the side of
Hermitage museum;
Cutaway columns of the palace;
MS of Clinton, St Petersburg mayor Anatoly Sobchak, and the museum
director;
Clinton walks into a gilded room and takes in the view;
CU of gilded ceiling;
VS of Clinton looking at the room;
CU ornate piano in the room;
Clinton exits the room, pull out to wide of the room;
Clinton leaves the hermitage and gets into car
1.37
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Russia - St Petersburg in need of restoration
T/I 11:26:39
Russia's second city, St Petersburg, is hoping for a huge cash
handout to restore its architectural beauty from President Boris
Yeltsin during his visit on Friday (6/6).
The startling facades of St Petersburg, the capital of Russia
until the revolution in 1917, are in need of urgent care and
restoration, but many in the city feel it has been neglected
compared to Moscow.
SHOWS:
MOSCOW & ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 4-6/6+FILE
ST PETERSBURG 4/6
00.02 ws st. petersburg
00.05 ws canal st. petersburg
00.09 cu pipe hanging out of building
00.13 ms workers digging
00.17 SOT Olga Paratinova, St. Petersburg Committee on
Preservation of Monuments: The condition is not
satisfying. Let's put it in official language. The
number of monuments needing urgent help and restoration
can be counted in a three digit number.. including some
of the most famous monuments in Saint Petersburg.
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA FILE
00.35 cu masonry
00.40 zoom into building
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 6/6
00.46 yeltsin on walkabout
00.53 another yeltsin walkabout shot
MOSCOW, RUSSIA 4/6
00.59 ws kremlin
01.03 ws kremlin with scaffolding
01.06 cu sandblasting kremlin
O1.11 ms christ the saviour church
01.15 ws christ the savious church
01.20 VISION ENDS
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RUSSIA: YELTSIN ADDS HIS SUPPORT FOR THE REMOVAL OF LENIN'S BODY
Natural Sound
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has added his support to calls for the removal of Lenin's mummified body from Moscow's Red Square.
Yeltsin made the suggestion Friday during a visit to Saint Petersburg - the city often described as the cradle of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
He was accompanied on the trip by the acting prime minister, Anatoly Chubais, adding weight to rumours that prime minister Viktor Chernomyrdin may be about to resign.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin arriving for a one-day visit to Russia's second city, Saint Petersburg.
In a move likely to bring him into conflict with the Russian Duma (parliament), Yeltsin said Lenin's mummified body should be returned to the city, the former Leningrad.
He added that there should be a nationwide referendum on the issue.
The body of the first Soviet leader has been on display in a granite and marble mausoleum in Moscow since his death in 1924.
Yeltsin also proposed clearing the whole of the Red Square in Moscow from what he described as graveyard topping, a reference to Soviet officials buried in the red brick wall behind the mausoleum.
His comments to a gathering of Russia's leading scholars and artists appear to put Yeltsin on a collision course with the communist-dominated Russian Duma.
The parliament recently voted overwhelmingly to ban any architectural changes to Red Square.
Yeltsin also took the opportunity to mark the 198th birthday of Russia's greatest
national poet Alexander Pushkin.
He lay flowers at the monument erected to Pushkin in Art Square.
The President then walked toward the Russian State Museum located in the same square to take part in a meeting of the presidential council for culture and art.
During his speech Yeltsin gave a vote of support to Russian nationalism.
He urged Russian cities to clear out foreign-language advertising and television stations to reduce the number of cheap American movies.
The Russian President was accompanied on his visit by Anatoly Chubais, his First Deputy Prime Minister while incumbent premier Viktor Chernomyrdin is on vacation.
Moscow is currently awash with rumours that the Russian Prime Minister is on the verge of resignation after losing most of his powers to Chubais, the architect of Russian privatisation programme, and the first vice-premier Boris Nemtsov.
Chubais, who launched his political career in Saint Petersburg, accompanied Yeltsin to the Lomo factory, which makes optical instruments.
As well as being a major cultural centre, the city is famous for its microscopes and other optical instruments.
But, as in so many parts of Russia, its workers have not been paid for months.
Yeltsin's trip is seen by some as an attempt to study the wage crisis and look for possible solutions.
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Russia - St Petersburg in need of renovation
T/I 10:26:06
Russia's second city, St Petersburg, is hoping for a huge cash
handout to restore its architectural beauty when President Boris
Yeltsin visits on Friday (6/6).
The startling facades of St Petersburg, the capital of Russia
until the revolution in 1917, are in need of urgent care and
restoration, but many in the city feel it has been neglected
compared to Moscow.
SHOWS:
MOSCOW & ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 4/6+RECENT
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 4/6:
WS St Petersburg skyline with gold dome of St Isaac's
cathedral,
church at end of canal,
untidy and dirty inner courtyard of a building,
dilapidated facade of a block,
ruined shell of a building with scaffolding,
another facade in state of bad repair with metal hanging off;
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA APRIL 97:
WS facade of Hermitage covered in scaffolding,
c/u worn away brickwork,
c/u of rusting pipes,
workers shovelling cement in Hermitage courtyard,
cu worker on scaffolding;
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA 4/6:
Olga Paratinova, vice chair of St Petersburg govt committee
on preservation of monuments, in office, talking on phone, SOT
in Russian: The condition, of course, is not satisfying, let's
put it like that in official language. It's different
everywhere, but the number of monuments needing urgent help and
restoration can be counted in a three digit number. Let's say,
including the most famous monuments in St Petersburg.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA 4/6:
Kremlin seen from river,
scaffolding covering Kremlin facade,
workers on scaffolding,
worker in mask and overalls cleaning stonework on bridge over river, w/s Christ the Saviour cathedral,
cranes,
more shots of cathedral,
building work on residential block.
Runs 2.18
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Russia - VE Day Celebrations
T/I: 10:49:47
Two days of ceremonies to mark the end of World War Two began in
Moscow on Monday (8/5). President Boris Yeltsin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Tomb honours the more than 20 million Soviet soldiers and civilians killed by the Nazis. Yeltsin also unveiled a monument to the Soviet war leader, Marshal Georgy Zhukov. The celebrations in Moscow will climax on Tuesday (9/5) when more than 50 world leaders, including US president Bill Clinton will be in attendance. Others to pay their respects on Monday included former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and the right-wing extremist politician, Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The visiting Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, was another leader on hand to honour the Soviet war dead. In St Petersburg, tens of thousands of people watched a naval review on
the Neva river. The review featured warships from Russia and the
western allied nations: the US, Britain, France, Belgium and the
Netherlands.
SHOWS:
RUSSIA, MOSCOW and ST PETERSBURG - 08/05
MOSCOW
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
cu flame
arrival of Yeltsin
cu Yeltsin
Yeltsin with officials at tomb with carnations
ws officials
military parade
cu Yeltsin with Grachev (defence minister)
military band
cu Zhukhov monument
gv of veterans
Yeltsin with scissors
unveiling of statue/monument
cu Zhukhov monument
veterans congratulating each other
cu monument with soldier
Zhrinovsky kissing vets
Zhirinovsky with girl in arms
Gorbachev at Tomb of Unknown Soldier
Xiang Zemin at tomb
Shevardnadze at tomb
Yeltsin with veterans
ST PETERSBURG:
naval parade re-enacting events of WWII
gvs of security stepped up for VE day celebs.
03.16
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Russia - Clinton Visits Memorial
T/I: 10:12:41
President Clinton, visiting Russia to attend a weekend summit on
nuclear security, toured St. Petersburg on Friday (19/4) and paid
tribute to Russian casualties of World War II.
At a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Piskarovskoye cemetery
where 500,000 people who died during the war were buried, Clinton
referred to the staggering losses of the Russian people during
the conflict.
SHOWS:
ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, 19/4
President Clinton and other officials observing military parade;
Soldiers march past;
MS of group;
Fresco of soldiers on wall;
Clinton SOT: We pray too for an end to violence and the
restoration of peace in the Middle East and everywhere where
neighbours still fight over their ethnic differences; Let us pause
to pray for those who lost their lives and those whose tomorrow's
can still be saved, if we are wise enough to find peace.
Clinton approaches tomb at the Piskarovskoye cemetery and lays
wreath;
Eternal flame;
2.00
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RUSSIA: BORIS YELTSIN LEAVES FOR SUMMIT OF THE 8 IN DENVER USA
Natural Sound
Russian Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin left Moscow Thursday for Denver, Colorado to attend the Summit of the Eight, formerly known as the Group of Seven (G-7).
For the first time, Russia will be involved in the majority of talks at the prestigious meeting of the world's most powerful industrial leaders.
The invitation to be practically a fully-fledged member of the exclusive group, is a diplomatic gesture following Russia's reluctant acceptance of NATO's expansion.
Russia's President Boris Yeltsin is an old-hand at summitry, but a new face at the meeting of the world's top industrial leaders.
Yeltsin left Moscow Thursday to attend the Summit of the Eight at Denver Colorado which begins on Friday.
In honour of the close relationship with President Yeltsin, the host, President Clinton has renamed the occasion from the Group of Seven to accommodate its new member.
The Russian President will be involved in the majority of talks, and only excluded from one meeting.
Inclusion of Russia, which does not by any financial yardstick merit a place at the top of the table, is a concession to President Yeltsin for abandoning its hostile stance to NATO expansion.
Russia has lost almost half its economy over the past five years, with gross domestic produce falling by some 40 per cent.
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Russia- Yeltsin opens memorial synagogue in Moscow
T/I: 11:11:15
Hoping for a temporary break from the heavy demands being put upon him by his nation's looming financial and political crisis, Russian leader Boris Yeltsin on Wednesday (2/9) engaged in some lighter presidential duties by opening a memorial synagogue in Moscow. Yeltsin toured the new synagogue and looked around a museum of the Holocaust, also on the site at Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow.
SHOWS:
MOSCOW, RUSSIA 2/9
WS Russian President Boris Yeltsin's limo drives up;
CA cameras;
Yeltsin and Moscow mayor Luzhkov (bald) walk up;
all walk into Holocaust museum;
WS Yeltsin,
Luzhkov sitting;
CU Yeltsin,
Luzhkov sitting;
CA spectators;
Yeltsin walks up to podium;
SOT Yeltsin (in Russian): It's bitter to see that our own home-grown facists have appeared here, phenomena of racist and national impatience;
CA spectators;
SOT Yeltsin (in Russian): We have stood up to the hardest tests before and I am sure we will overcome today's difficult situation as well. This temple has been erected at the most difficult of times;
CA crowd;
SOT US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in English: It's a tribute to President Yeltsin that such a ceremony can be held today in Russia, that brings together so many leaders from the worldwide Jewish community to honour the opening of this memorial synagogue;
CA spectators;
SOT Vladimir Gusinsky, head of Russian Jewish Congress: He (Yeltsin) will go into history as the first elected president of Russia;
WS Yeltsin and everyone standing up for music;
Yeltsin waving leaves;
WS synagogue complex.
2.34
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RUSSIA: ST. PETERSBURG: PRESIDENT CLINTON'S ARRIVAL
English/Nat
U-S President Bill Clinton arrived in St Petersburg late Thursday night to be faced by the world's press in the wake of the Israeli bombing of a U-N peacekeepers headquarters in Lebanon.
The President unconditionally called for a ceasefire in the Middle East and said efforts must be made for a lasting peace in the region.
A weary President Clinton arrived in St Petersburg with the press awaiting his reaction to today's (Thursday) Israeli attack in Lebanon.
It's believed nearly a hundred people were killed and the attack and at least as many injured.
Reports suggest Hezbollah guerillas fired at the Israelis a few hundred meters from the U-N safeguard where hundreds of Lebanese sought refuge.
Fifteen minutes later the Israelis opened fire with heavy guns.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
On behalf of the American people, I want to express my deepest condolences to the government of Lebanon and to the families of those who were killed or wounded this morning in South Lebanon. I also offer my condolences to the government of Fiji over the casualties among its UN peacekeeping personnel.
SUPERCAPTION: Bill Clinton, President of the United States
The President told the press there was only one way to stop the current round of violence in Lebanon and Israel.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Today's events make painfully clear the importance of bringing an end to the current violence in Lebanon. To achieve that goal, I call upon all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire. The end of the fighting is essential to allow our diplomatic efforts to go forward.
SUPERCAPTION: Bill Clinton, President of the United States
The President is sending top diplomats - possibly including Secretary of State Warren Christopher to the Middle East to help negotiate an American peace deal already in the works.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Resolving the current situation will not only stop human suffering, it will help us all to make further progress toward our goal of a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East. But let me say again we should begin with an immediate ceasefire.
SUPERCAPTION: Bill Clinton, President of the United States
Lebanese security sources said the Lebanese complex had been used by families who refused to evacuate southern Lebanon when the violence began eight days ago.
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Д.Медведев.Выступление на церемонии открытия.27.05.09
Speech at Opening Ceremony of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.
May 27, 2009
St Petersburg
Выступление на церемонии открытия Президентской библиотеки имени Бориса Ельцина.
27 мая 2009 года
Санкт-Петербург
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Good afternoon, dear friends,
Today, as St Petersburg celebrates its City Day holiday, we are here to open the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.
It is located in the Synod building, a building of particular significance for this city and for the whole country. We watched the film just now and saw for ourselves the results of the work that has been done.
I sincerely congratulate all of the projects organisers and everyone who worked here to create this new library and restore this building for everyone in St Petersburg, in our country, and for our foreign friends too. I congratulate you all the more so as todays event coincides not just with St Petersburgs City Day, but also with Library Day, which is being marked today all around our country.
Books hold an enduring place in humanitys history. Without books it is not possible to pass on knowledge, cultural traditions, and the histories of countries and peoples. Preserving our values and cultivating respect for our own history and deeper knowledge of our spiritual culture are among the states constant objectives. It is for this reason that we are here today.
This library was given the status of national library last October. It will house what I hope will become the fullest collection of documents on the history of the Russian state, Russian society and Russian law. It will cover all different periods, including the modern era.
As we have seen today, the best examples of international experience have served in helping to create this intellectual resource of such great scale and importance, and the library itself is fitted out with state-of-the-art technology. I hope that it will soon become one of the worlds biggest information portals. What makes it so valuable, in my opinion, is that anyone, anywhere in our vast country, or anywhere in the world with internet access, will be able to enter this library and use its resources. This is the most important thing of all. I hope that these plans will be implemented with the greatest technological skill and professionalism.
I just visited the exhibition of rare books and little known archive materials. They were in effect unavailable to the general public. Now we can give a huge number of people access to these rare documents, these objects of bygone eras and past years.
I hope that this will go ahead electronically as well, because digital technology has become the principle means today for storing and transferring knowledge. Furthermore, the librarys branch network will also open up many new opportunities for people in other parts of the country.
It is traditional to give presents at birthdays. This library has received a very valuable gift today a collection of rare books and maps that reflect our countrys history over the last 500 years. Publications from the time of Peter the Great, including legal works, have been returned to Russia. We saw just now the alphabet that Peter the Great corrected. It is also part of the librarys resources now. And we saw the manuscripts and documents signed by Catherine the Great and Paul I items of museum value. There are also the publications that came during the lives of many of our great writers, and the works of the most prominent Russian historians.
I think that it is also very significant that the library should receive such a present on the day of its inauguration.
I hope that the library will build up its reserves through additional sources and through its own acquisitions. I know that many of you here today have presented gifts to the library too, and I want to thank you most sincerely for this.
The Presidential Library has also been presented with an identical copy of the Russian Constitution used at the presidential inauguration from my personal library in the Kremlin. It is now in the Constitution room. I think this also has symbolic significance for everyone who will use the library.
Once again, I want to congratulate you all on the opening of Russias new national library the Boris Yeltsin Library, and on the unique collections that have been presented.
I want to congratulate all library workers on their professional holiday and all residents of this wonderful city on City Day. This is an excellent and important event that has taken place.
Thank you.
USA: DENVER: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT YELTSIN ATTENDS SUMMIT OF 8
Russian/Nat
Russian President Boris Yeltsin courted U-S business executives on Saturday to persuade them to invest in Russia.
However, Yeltsin has been excluded from economic discussions at the Summit of Eight, the meeting of leaders from the world's seven wealthiest industrial nations.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin became salesman not statesman on Saturday as he tried to encourage American investment.
Left out of the summit's economic session, as planned, Yeltsin was guest of a high- tech group of American chief executives.
The subject was clear - Russia's potential for business investment.
Indeed part of Russia's own high-tech pride provided the backdrop for the event at Denver's Museum of Natural History.
A full-scale example of Russia's RD-180 rocket engine won close inspection by Yeltsin and his American guests - among them the U-S company Lockheed-Martin Corporation.
The firm is buying more than 100 of the engines in a joint venture with Russian rocket maker N-P-O Energomash.
But the summit wasn't far from the Russian President's mind. He took time to deliver his verdict on the summit's first session.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
We discussed many questions today. Both questions of crime, drugs, health care, pensions of elderly persons, labour, employment, along with the whole roll of social issues concerning human beings.
SUPER CAPTION: Boris Yeltsin, Russian President.
Then it was down to face-to-face talking - Yeltsin's message to America's high tech business elite - the door to Russian markets are open.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
By pooling our efforts we can accomplish amazing things. And the engine that I saw on the first floor is an indication of what can be accomplished by people who have a good head and good hands.
SUPER CAPTION: Boris Yeltsin, Russian President.
But there was tough talk too on deals already sealed, including Russia's role in the joint space effort with the United States.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
You might harbour certain concerns as to whether or not Russia would be in a position to meet its deadlines and obligations. And one can hear people saying that perhaps Russia should not be involved in this effort. Now I can tell you that we have gone so far that there is now way you can disengage Russia from this work. And, also, the part of the project that we were assigned, no one but Russia would be able to do that.
SUPER CAPTION: Boris Yeltsin, Russian President.
Yeltsin's firm tone and Moscow's high-profile entry into the summit club may spur the next generation of trade with Russia.
The Russian President is banking that his new partners agree more trade is needed to bring Russia into the global club of economic powers.
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Yeltsin saved Russia in 1993
Present-day twenty-year-old Russians may not remember the long queues at food stores, the shortage of all types of goods and the mess that reigned in the upper echelons of power. And all the more so, the younger generation has no clue that in 1993, Russia was on the verge of a civil war. Civil unrest began to grow after President Boris Yeltsin signed decree number 1400 About the phased constitutional reform in the Russian Federation. An emergency meeting of the Supreme Council of People's Deputies was immediately convened, and it was decided that the president was trying to arrange a coup with his actions. However, the members of the inner circle of Boris Yeltsin are certain that the President was absolutely right back then.
Alexander Korzhakov, ex-security chief of Boris Yeltsin:
Filatov came rushing to me. He was the second person in the country, the head of the presidential administration. He was weeping, he sat up and began banging his head on the table . I said what's wrong with you, are you crazy? And he said -- Alexander, go save Russia, run to Yeltsin and tell him to withdraw the decree.
He did not run to him, he didn't tell him that. It was no responsibility of the chief of state security to intervene in the affairs of state importance. Back then, no one knew what would happen afterwards. The conflict was inevitable. There were many informers in both camps.
Alexander Korzhakov: When the information reached the would-be rebels, it was clear, whom it came from. It was coming from someone who prepared those decrees. It was a secret meeting, but everyone knew about it.
The conflict between the president and the Supreme Council developed into chaos. An armed crowd stormed the Ostankino TV center in Moscow, but the attempt to capture the TV center remained unsuccessful. Fire shots could be heard in Moscow for two days. A state of emergency was introduced in the capital, and troops entered the city. The nightmare in Moscow ended only in the evening of the fourth of October. Although some believe that it only started that day. But one thing is clear - those days of October 1993 determined the course of history of the country for decades.
Alexander Korzhakov: The authorities that we now have in the country, led by Vladimir Putin, should be grateful to Yeltsin for the fact that he and his team saved Russia.
Officially, about two hundred people fell victims of the so-called coup. About a thousand were injured. Twenty years have passed, and today it is quite strange to realize that there could be mass shootings and armed clashes with police in Moscow. It never occurs to anyone nowadays that that part of history can repeat itself.
Alexander Korzhakov: We have to pass a normal constitution to make it democratic, as it should be. They only messed up the process. Because after those events, we made the Constitution for one person only. Actually, it was written for the president. We can see it now in the parliament. Having the right under the constitution to give amnesty without asking anyone... The constitution should be changed urgently, if Putin does not want to come back to those days.
Press Conference with President Clinton & President Yeltsin
This is video footage of a joint press conference with President Clinton and President Yeltsin of Russia. This footage is official public record produced by the White House Television (WHTV) crew, provided by the Clinton Presidential Library.
Date: October 23, 1995
Location: Hyde Park, NY
Access Restriction(s): unrestricted
Use Restrictions(s): unrestricted
Camera: White House Television (WHTV) / Main
Local Identifiers: M04478
This material is public domain, as it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person's official duties. Any usage must receive the credit Courtesy; William J. Clinton Presidential Library, and no exclusive rights or permissions are granted for usage.
U.S.-Russia Relations on the Eve of Clinton's Trip to Moscow
Secretary Clinton travels to Russia to discuss nuclear disarmament, Iran, Afghanistan, and human rights with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and President Medvedev. James Collins explains that the United States has made a good beginning with the Russian leadership, but the relationship is still very fragile.
Kremlin Russian president V.Putin place,travel advisor Valentina 12018384838
Realtor Valentina, travel advisor in moscow,Kremlin next to Russian president building kremlevsky dvorez promo in English and Russian villavalentina.123look.com
RUSSIA: VE.DAY CELEBRATIONS: RUSSIAN WAR VETERANS
Russian/Nat
Russia's war veterans will take a place of honour at Tuesday's Victory in Europe celebrations in Moscow.
The veterans, who gave all but their lives for their country, are basking in the attention, and financial bonuses, lavished on them in recent months.
But some fear that these good times may all be over and they will be forgotten again once the celebrations are over.
Under cover of darkness, Russian soldiers take part in a final dress rehearsal for the Victory Day parade on 9 May.
Red flags held proudly aloft, they march with a crisp and disciplined rhythm under the watchful gaze of Defence Minister Pavel Grachev.
The Russian army may have been humiliated by the Chechen volunteers, but they are still unparalleled on the parade ground.
At sunrise their place is taken by the real heroes of the Great Patriotic War - as the Second World War is known in Russia.
The rhythm may not be as crisp but all are basking in the attention that has been so long in coming.
It's a good year to be a war veteran - extra pensions from the government, commemorative watches and free petrol coupons for the summer donated by a private bank.
At Moscow's home for the Aged Number 6, all veterans have been kitted out with new clothes.
Maria Smyatanina and her husband Ivan have been living here for over a decade.
Both were at the front during the war and for them Victory Day has meant new furniture, a colour TV and a refrigerator for their room.
They are grateful for all the presents being lavished on them.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Of course, we're getting a lot of attention this year with concerts and tea parties. They've given us presents, medals and an alarm clock, even flowers.
SUPER CAPTION: Maria Smyatanina - War Veteran
But the director of the home would have used the extra money to hire more staff.
The presents, she says, are all very well but when the celebrations are over she will still be faced with the problem of looking after the old people.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Who would come for a paltry 100-thousand rubles (US $18) and look after sick old men and women who have barely got the strength to get to the toilet. And we have to find someone to take care of them. Do you really think that's possible. That's our biggest problem but for some reason nobody wants to listen.
SUPER CAPTION: Edita Nesterova - Director Home for the Aged Number 6
Even though veterans in Russia enjoy many privileges, including special shops with subsidised goods, their monthly pensions amount to little more than 35 U-S dollars.
They have been by far the hardest hit by the government's market reforms and until now their plight has been largely ignored.
With the government spending millions on the celebrations, many of them would rather swap their Victory Day presents for a higher pension.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
We didn't ask for the money. We don't need their presents. We just want a decent life and then we wouldn't need to ask for anything.
SUPER CAPTION: Nikolai Karpunov - War veteran
Less than 10 percent of the four (b) billion US dollars budget set aside for the May celebrations will in fact go to Russia's veterans.
This has lead to even Boris Yeltsin's advisors questioning whether the money is going to the right place.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Instead of having a military parade it would have been better to direct all the energy and resources towards helping people in need, particularly the veterans and those who took part in the war.
SUPER CAPTION: Dmitry Volkogonov - Military historian
When Russia's veterans march into Red Square on 9 May, they will feel as proud as they did 50 years ago.
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RUSSIA: CZAR NICHOLAS II TO GET PROPER RELIGIOUS BURIAL
Russian/Nat
Russia's last royal family, who were murdered in 1918 during the Bolshevik uprising, may soon get the proper religious burial denied them for nearly 80 years.
President Boris Yeltsin said in a Kremlin news conference Friday, that all the known remains of the Imperial family should now be solemnly buried together - probably in St Petersburg.
This follows positive identification of DNA by scientists of bones unearthed in the Ural Mountains in 1991.
Russia's last royal family fascinates the country whose socialist forebears murdered them in 1918 during the Bolshevik revolution.
Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in 1917 as the workers' revolution gained strength.
He and his family and servants were exiled to Northern Siberia, and then moved to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains.
Here they were massacred in revenge for the past and in fear for the future.
A memorial exists for the family but their whereabouts was a mystery until some bones were unearthed in 1991 in the Ural Mountains that were widely believed to be those of the murdered Romanovs.
Just last week the bones were positively identified by American and Russian scientists using D-N-A tests as those of the murdered royal family.
Since then speculation has been widespread about whether or not the czar and his family would now be given the proper religious burial denied them for nearly 80 years.
And the debate is also raging about where the reburial will take place.
Officials in Yekaterinburg want the Romanovs to be buried in their city but they face stiff opposition from St. Petersburg authorities who are lobbying for the czar to be interred in the pre-Revolutionary capital .
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
Some say they should be buried in St. Petersburg where all the Romanovs are buried. But others say they should be buried in Yekaterinburg where they were shot. We will discuss the matter a little more and then make a decision. My opinion is that they should be buried in St. Petersburg where the dynasty is buried.
SUPERCAPTION: Boris Yeltsin, Russian President
The reburial would be a huge event in Russia where nationalist feelings are growing rapidly and the killing of the czar, his wife and five children is a source of deep shame.
It would also be a triumph for the Orthodox Church which has actively sought a religious reburial ceremony for the murdered Czar and his family .
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