Boris Yeltsin's surprise resignation
Witness History
BBC
4.4 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 March 2022
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On New Year's Eve 1999 the Russian President went on TV and announced he was leaving office. Tired and emotional, he apologised to the people for the state of the country. Boris Yeltsin's departure paved the way for his chosen successor, Vladimir Putin. Dina Newman spoke to the former Russian president's widow, Naina Yeltsina, about that day.
PHOTO: Boris Yeltsin in 1999 (Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:24.9 | searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds. Hello and thank you for downloading the podcast of Witness History from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:40.7 | Following the invasion of Ukraine, we're looking this week at the rule of the Russian |
| 0:45.2 | leader Vladimir Putin. Today we're going back to New Year's Eve 1999 and the surprise resignation of President Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin. |
| 0:56.0 | As Dina Neuman now reports, Mr Yeltsin went on television to apologize for his failures. |
| 1:03.0 | The Russian president Boris Yeltsin has taken the world by surprise yet again. |
| 1:07.0 | Boris Yeltsin always said he would see out his full term in office. |
| 1:11.0 | Today he told Russians he changed his mind. |
| 1:14.1 | The man who once stood a strider tank to defend democracy in Russia |
| 1:18.1 | used the last day of the millennium to announce his resignation as president. |
| 1:21.7 | The first person who learned about the president's shock |
| 1:24.9 | 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, |
| 1:37.4 | so he woke up earlier than usual. He carefully chose his suit and tie and was putting on his coat. |
| 1:44.6 | He turned to me and said, |
| 1:47.0 | Naina, I am going to resign. |
| 1:49.8 | Watch my address on TV. |
... |
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