Changes

Yeltsin was re-elected in spring 1996.  His most prominent rival, [[General]] [[Alexander Lebed]], had died earlier that year in a [[helicopter]] accident.  This left Communist leader [[Gennady Zyuganov]] as the leading opposition candidate.  Voters found both Zyuganov and his message uninspiring and Yeltsin won easily.

Yeltsin was re-elected in spring 1996.  His most prominent rival, [[General]] [[Alexander Lebed]], had died earlier that year in a [[helicopter]] accident.  This left Communist leader [[Gennady Zyuganov]] as the leading opposition candidate.  Voters found both Zyuganov and his message uninspiring and Yeltsin won easily.

Yeltsin's second term was marked by increasing reliance on his [[prime ministers]] and more troubles with Chechnya.  In the three years following the end of the first war, the government of Chechnya had been unable to establish a monopoly on the use of force, and the region was increasingly dominated by [[jihadists]].  In the summer of 1999, armed groups staged attacks from its territory against neighboring parts of Russia, notably [[Dagestan]].  Any remaining doubts about how to deal with this menace were settled approximately a month after the defeat of the jihadists in Dagestan when apartment buildings in both Moscow and other parts of Russia were destroyed in early-morning bomb attacks, with heavy civilian loss of life.  Yeltsin was compelled to order a second invasion.

Yeltsin's second term was marked by increasing reliance on his [[prime ministers]] and more troubles with Chechnya.  In the three years following the end of the first war, the government of Chechnya had been unable to establish a monopoly on the use of force, and the region was increasingly dominated by [[jihadists]].  In the summer of 1999, armed groups staged attacks from its territory against neighboring parts of Russia, notably [[Dagestan]].  Any remaining doubts about how to deal with this menace were settled approximately a month after the defeat of the jihadists in Dagestan when apartment buildings in both [[Moscow]] and other parts of Russia were destroyed in early-morning bomb attacks, with heavy civilian loss of life.  Yeltsin was compelled to order a second invasion.

This operation was supervised by Prime Minister [[Vladimir Putin]], who impressed Yeltsin as none of his predecessors had.  Yeltsin's popularity was in free fall by this time as a result of the bombings and of his government's perceived foreign policy failures, particularly the inability to stop [[Bill Clinton]]'s war against [[Yugoslavia]] or get sanctions lifted against [[Iraq]], both countries having come since the end of Communism to be seen as [[allies]] of Russia.  One day, Yeltsin allegedly said to Putin, "Something very important has happened:  People trust you."  Rather than risk a victory by Communists or other [[totalitarians]] in the 2000 election, Yeltsin chose to resign eight years to the day after Gorbachev had, resulting in the elevation of Putin, who had less baggage, to the presidency.  In his farewell speech, Yeltsin apologized to the Russian people "for the dreams you had which never came true."

This operation was supervised by Prime Minister [[Vladimir Putin]], who impressed Yeltsin as none of his predecessors had.  Yeltsin's popularity was in free fall by this time as a result of the bombings and of his government's perceived foreign policy failures, particularly the inability to stop [[Bill Clinton]]'s war against [[Yugoslavia]] or get sanctions lifted against [[Iraq]], both countries having come since the end of Communism to be seen as [[allies]] of Russia.  One day, Yeltsin allegedly said to Putin, "Something very important has happened:  People trust you."  Rather than risk a victory by Communists or other [[totalitarians]] in the 2000 election, Yeltsin chose to resign eight years to the day after Gorbachev had, resulting in the elevation of Putin, who had less baggage, to the presidency.  In his farewell speech, Yeltsin apologized to the Russian people "for the dreams you had which never came true."

==Yeltsin, KAL 007, and American Pows==

==Yeltsin, KAL 007, and American Pows==

American POW matters had become intertwined with [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]], shot down by the Soviets in 1983, when Senator Jesse Helms of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations wrote to Boris Yeltsin requesting information concerning both matters. On December 5, 1991, Senator Helms had written to Yeltsin concerning the US servicemen. "The status of thousands and thousands of American servicemen who are held by Soviet and other Communist forces, and who were never repatriated after every major war this century, is of grave concern to the American people." Yeltsin would ultimately respond with a statement made on June 15, 1992, while being interviewed aboard his presidential jet on his way to the United States, "Our archives have shown that it is true - some of them [American POWs from World War ll and the Vietnam war] were transferred to the territory of the U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps... We can only surmise that some of them may still be alive."

American POW matters had become intertwined with [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]], shot down by the Soviets in 1983, when Senator Jesse Helms of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations wrote to Boris Yeltsin requesting information concerning both matters. On December 5, 1991, Senator Helms had written to Yeltsin concerning the US servicemen. "The status of thousands and thousands of American servicemen who are held by Soviet and other Communist forces, and who were never repatriated after every major war this century, is of grave concern to the American people." Yeltsin would ultimately respond with a statement made on June 15, 1992, while being interviewed aboard his presidential jet on his way to the United States, "Our archives have shown that it is true - some of them [American POWs from [[World War II]] and the [[Vietnam War]]] were transferred to the territory of the U.S.S.R. and were kept in labor camps... We can only surmise that some of them may still be alive."

On December 10, just five days after Senator Helms had written Yeltsin concerning American servicemen, Helms would write to Yeltsin concerning KAL 007, "One of the greatest tragedies of the Cold War was the shoot-down of the Korean Airlines flight KAL-007 by the Armed Forces of what was then the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983... The KAL-007 tragedy was one of the most tense incidences of the entire Cold War.  However, now that relations between our two nations have improved substantially, I believe that it is time to resolve the mysteries surrounding this event. Clearing the air on this issue could help further to improve relations."  Then, in June of 1992, Yeltsin revealed the existence of KGB memo reporting the existence of documents related to KAL 007.  Speaking in Washington, he said, "It was a memorandum from (the) KGB to the Central Committee of the Communist Party where it says that such a tragedy has taken place, and so on and so forth, and that there are documents which would clarify the entire picture.  And the next line then says these documents are so well concealed that it is doubtful that our children will be able to find them, those who come after us will be able to

On December 10, just five days after Senator Helms had written Yeltsin concerning American servicemen, Helms would write to Yeltsin concerning KAL 007, "One of the greatest tragedies of the Cold War was the shoot-down of the Korean Airlines flight KAL-007 by the Armed Forces of what was then the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983... The KAL-007 tragedy was one of the most tense incidences of the entire Cold War.  However, now that relations between our two nations have improved substantially, I believe that it is time to resolve the mysteries surrounding this event. Clearing the air on this issue could help further to improve relations."  Then, in June of 1992, Yeltsin revealed the existence of KGB memo reporting the existence of documents related to KAL 007.  Speaking in Washington, he said, "It was a memorandum from (the) [[KGB]] to the Central Committee of the Communist Party where it says that such a tragedy has taken place, and so on and so forth, and that there are documents which would clarify the entire picture.  And the next line then says these documents are so well concealed that it is doubtful that our children will be able to find them, those who come after us will be able to

find them." <ref>UPI, Washington, June 17, 1992</ref>. Yeltsin would ultimately respond on January 8, 1993 by handing over to the International Civil Aviation Organization what the Russians had for so many years denied possessing, the subject of Soviet Naval deception of the U.S. Seventh Fleet [http://www.rescue007.org/ruse.htm]- the vaunted and much sought after tapes of the KAL 007's "Black Box", the tapes from the Digital Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder [http://www.rescue007.org/docs/Is%20This%20the%20Final%20Word.pdf]. With the return of the tapes, Yeltsin would hand over the real-time Soviet military communications of the shootdown requested by Helms, reopening the question about the fate of KAL 007 and its passengers (See [[KAL 007: Timeline of Interception and Shootdown]] for the reconstruction of KAL 007's flight after the attack based on these military communications)

find them." <ref>UPI, Washington, June 17, 1992</ref>. Yeltsin would ultimately respond on January 8, 1993 by handing over to the International Civil Aviation Organization what the Russians had for so many years denied possessing, the subject of Soviet Naval deception of the U.S. Seventh Fleet <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/ruse.htm</ref> - the vaunted and much sought after tapes of the KAL 007's "Black Box", the tapes from the Digital Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder <ref>http://www.rescue007.org/docs/Is%20This%20the%20Final%20Word.pdf</ref>. With the return of the tapes, Yeltsin would hand over the real-time Soviet military communications of the shootdown requested by Helms, reopening the question about the fate of KAL 007 and its passengers (See [[KAL 007: Timeline of Interception and Shootdown]] for the reconstruction of KAL 007's flight after the attack based on these military communications)

== Reference ==

== Reference ==

[[Category:Heads of State]]

[[Category:Heads of State]]

==External links==

==External links==

*[http://www.rescue007.org/ The website of the International Committee for the Rescue of KAL 007 Survivors]

*[http://www.rescue007.org/ The website of the International Committee for the Rescue of KAL 007 Survivors]