Centre dedicated to legacy of Boris Yeltsin opens in Yekaterinburg

A centre devoted to the legacy of Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, opened yesterday in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The centre, which occupies a 22,000 square-metre space, houses a museum and educational areas for children. The museum section explores Russian history in general, but pays special attention to the 1990s, and to Yeltsin’s role in particular. Part of the museum is dedicated to the Chechen wars at the tail end of the decade, and another to the controversial elections of 1996.

Founded under a federal law that provides for the creation of centres dedicated to the legacy of each Russian president in their city of birth, the Yeltsin centre was assigned 4.9 billion rubles (US$75 million) from the federal budget, according to the centre’s director, Alexander Drozdov.

According to Mr Drozdov, the centre will provide an impartial view on events.

“[At the centre] no one will impose any judgements or appraisals. Everything is designed in order to give visitors willing to reflect on the subject, especially those who don’t know a lot about it, to see and feel how it was back then,” he said.

Source: The Moscow Times