“They are still offended”: the reason why those closest to Yeltsin did not come to Yeltsin’s grave became known

“Boris Yeltsin is part of our history, and we keep his memory,” said Dmitry Peskov on the birthday of the first president of Russia, February 1.

And on this day we visited the Novodevichy cemetery to see who else preserves the memory of politics.

On February 1 in Yekaterinburg, officials laid flowers at the monument to Boris Yeltsin: Governor Kuyvashev, Presidential Envoy Yakushev, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Sverdlovsk Region Merzlyakova, Chairman of the Public Chamber and others.

In Moscow, at Yeltsin’s grave, I did not notice any governors or officials. Baskets of roses were sent by Putin, Medvedev, Chubais and the Yeltsin Center. But the old team of the first president and Boris Nikolayevich’s relatives came almost in full force.

The first to arrive at the monument were employees of the Yeltsin Center. They pushed the wreath from the president aside. “People will come here,” they explained.

“For some reason, many people are not visible,” the woman who, judging by the conversations, worked with Yeltsin, looked around.

“They’re sick, it’s already hard for some to walk,” the man spread his hands.

“But there are those who are still offended by Borya, so they don’t come here,” another person joined the conversation.

– So silly…

By noon the people had arrived. About 50 people gathered.

– More of our people used to come. Maybe because now is not a round date? – suggested a family friend. “But I was afraid that there would be no one at all.” Did you notice that our deputies, whom we often see on TV, did not show up? They’re probably afraid…

People talked, looked at photographs, and joked. No one argued, no one started talking about politics. From the outside it might seem that good old friends had gathered to remember a comrade.

A little later, Tatyana Yumasheva and her son Boris arrived. There were no security escorts. If the daughter of the first president has practically not changed in recent years, then the grandson has matured, gained weight, grown a beard, and turned gray. According to those gathered, the son-in-law of the first president, Valery Okulov, was also present. “He’s completely unrecognizable, he’s changed a lot,” those around him noticed. There was no Valentin Yumashev. “He is sick,” they told me. Naina Yeltsina’s absence was explained as follows: “It seems that she underwent surgery, but Tanya does not say what exactly happened. So it’s recovering.”

Yeltsin’s relatives laid bouquets of roses, talked with those gathered, and took memorable photographs. Tatyana never refused anyone’s request to be photographed.

Most journalists ignored the event. Of the photographers, only Yuri Feklistov was present, who photographed Yeltsin for many years.

I approached Yeltsin’s political consultant Igor Mintusov, who is called the first president’s image maker in the media.

“Just don’t call me “image maker”, I don’t like this stupid word,” Igor Evgenievich immediately corrected me. – I worked on Yeltsin’s presidential campaign in 1996. He was his political consultant. Then our communication ended.

– Do you always come here for memorable dates?

– Almost every year, depending on whether I’m in Moscow or not.

The interlocutor refused to recall any incidents from the life of Boris Nikolaevich: “It’s not very comfortable and convenient to tell tales now. In general, Yeltsin made a strong impression on me: adequate, smart, responsive, he understood everything perfectly. It was such a pleasure to communicate with a wise person who didn’t have to chew everything in detail.”

– After your cooperation ended, could you call and congratulate him?

– No, we didn’t communicate. Despite the fact that he was an easy-going person, there is a protocol. Just calling and asking how you are doing is ridiculous.

– Do you know everyone here?

– Many. We don’t know Tatyana Yumasheva closely, but I talked to her a couple of times. I know the former head of protocol of the first President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Shevchenko, Andrei Nechaev – the former Minister of Economy, Sergei Gryzunov – he was the Minister of Press, I saw the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs here. Maybe some other ministers came up… Today people gathered who worked with Yeltsin in one way or another, this is his team in the broad sense of the word.

– So no one turned away from him?

– Nobody. People owe a lot to Boris Nikolaevich. They made careers under him and occupied certain positions. The whole guard is here…

Half an hour later, Yumasheva said goodbye: “Thank you very much to everyone. Thank you for coming”.

Tatyana and her son left the cemetery in a black Mercedes with a flashing light.

The others also gathered. “Yeltsin’s associates will gather in a cafe, the table has been set for 30 people,” I was informed.

“It’s good that you come here every year, don’t forget,” I said goodbye to the Yeltsin Center employee.

– How can you forget this? – the man was surprised. – It was the brightest time in the history of the country…