Boris Yeltsin gestures as he leaves the polling station during presidential elections in Moscow in this 1991 file photo. Yeltsin, who buried the Soviet Union then led Russia through its chaotic first years of independence, has died, the Kremlin said on April 23. - REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters):

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who buried the Soviet Union then led Russia through its chaotic first years of independence, died yesterday at age 76, the Kremlin said.

Many Russians initially viewed Yeltsin as a hero for dismantling Communist rule. His finest hour came when, in 1991, he clambered onto a tank and raised his fist in defiance of hardline coup plotters who wanted to turn back the clock.

But his economic "shock therapy" cast millions into poverty and his last years in office were marked by chaos, erratic behaviour combined with persistent reports of drunkenness, and bloody conflict with Chechen rebels.

"Today (yesterday), at 15:45 (1145 GMT) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin died in the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of a deteriorating cardio-vascular problem," said a Kremlin spokeswoman.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, whom Yeltsin effectively forced from office, paid tribute to his achievements and noted his shortcomings.

Condolences

"I express the very deepest condolences to the family of the deceased, on whose shoulders rest major events for the good of the country and serious mistakes," Gorbachev said.

"A tragic fate," said Gorbachev, who had bitter relations with Yeltsin in his lifetime.

President Vladimir Putin, whom Yeltsin anointed as his heir before stepping down in the last hours of 1999, telephoned his widow and expressed his "deepest condolences", the Kremlin said.

The chaos he inherited from Yeltsin created a widespread disillusionment with democracy that later allowed Putin, backed by most Russians, to roll back many of Yeltsin's reforms.

Yeltsin had for years been dogged by heart problems that required multiple heart bypass surgery while he was still in office. His deteriorating health ultimately forced him to step aside in favour of Putin.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in Moscow for talks with Putin, said Yeltsin was an important figure.

"No Americans at least will forget seeing him standing on the tank outside of the White House resisting a coup attempt."