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Hello, you're listening to The Witness Podcast, History as told by the People who were there with me,

Dina Neumann.

Today we go back to New Year's Eve, 1999,

when on the last day of the 20th century,

Russian President Boris Yeltsin

went on TV to announce his surprise resignation and to apologize for his

failures. The Russian president Boris Yeltsin has taken the world by surprise

yet again. Boris Yeltsin always said he would see out his full term in office.

Today he told Russians he changed his mind.

The man who once stood a strider tank to defend democracy in Russia

used the last day of the millennium to announce his resignation as

president. The first person who learned about the president's shock resignation

was his wife Naina Yeltsina. It was an unusual day, New Year's Eve and Boris was due to record his New Year's address to the nation, so he woke up earlier than usual. carefully chose his suit and tie and was putting on his coat

He turned to me and said

Naina I am going to resign.

Watch my address on TV.

...