Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who broke up the Soviet Union and dismantled the country's communist economy, died yesterday from heart problems, writes Conor Sweeneyin Moscow.
Mr Yeltsin (76), who had suffered from poor health, depression and alcoholism for decades, ruled Russia throughout the chaotic 1990s and helped install Russia's current president, Vladimir Putin.
He died yesterday in a Moscow hospital where he was being treated for ongoing ailments.
Hailed in the West as a liberal reformer and defender of democracy, he was despised by the end of his second term in Russia for the collapse of the country's financial system in 1998 and for humiliating the country abroad with his drunken antics.
His death received a muted reaction in Russia last night after it was formally announced by the Kremlin. President Putin expressed his condolences by phone to Mr Yeltsin's widow, Naina.
Mr Yeltsin has kept a relatively low profile in Russia since his resignation on New Year's Eve in 1999, though he has been seen both at official public events and at major tennis championships.
He appeared fit during an interview to coincide with his 76th birthday in February. The greatest achievement of his term in office, he insisted, was establishing democracy in Russia. "I admit we had difficulties, but year by year we made progress and now it will never go backwards," he said.
President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern extended their sympathies to Mr Putin.
Mr Ahern praised Mr Yeltsin's "tremendous contribution" and said he had "stood up to very difficult times when there was an attempt to move Russia back into the old ways of the past".
Mrs McAleese said Mr Yeltsin "played such a pivotal role in Russia's democratic transition".
His one-time mentor within the communist party, Mikhail Gorbachev, was ousted from office by Mr Yeltsin as the Soviet Union was broken up by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in December 1991.
Mr Gorbachev offered his sympathy to the Yeltsin family, but added the sting that "on his shoulders rest major events for the good of the country - and serious mistakes. A tragic fate."
While many Russians saw their living standards plummet as a result of the "shock therapy" of Mr Yeltsin's policies, a small handful of people benefited most from the sudden shift from communism to a market economy. Many of this elite evolved into the oligarchs who helped finance Mr Yeltsin's re-election campaign in 1996.