The death of Yeltsin returned to Russia the tradition of imperial funeral

In Moscow, the first president of Russia Boris Yeltsin was buried.

In modern Russia, the ceremony of the church burial of statesmen of such a rank has not yet developed. If earlier there was a funeral service - whether at the request of the deceased or his relatives - the memorial service took place in absentia. In the current ceremony, it was necessary to combine elements of state funeral and the Orthodox rite. Hence the unusual, perhaps, at first glance, a combination of heterogeneous elements of the ritual is a military guard at the coffin and a memorial service with the mention of the full state title of Yeltsin and his middle name (for the last time such commemoration was performed at the funeral of Emperor Alexander III).

So the death of the first president of Russia became the reason for creating a new or forgotten former tradition.

A similar ceremony occurred in Russia for the first time in 113 years (after the death of Alexander III). Russia saw the last state funerals in 1985, but it was then called differently: March 13, 1985 was buried by the Secretary General of the CPSU Konstantin Chernenko (the funeral of Yeltsin, Brezhnev and Andropov compared to the video ).

As the State Heroldmaster of Russia Georgy Vilinbakhov noted in an interview with Echo of Moscow , "the funeral of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin to a certain extent is unprecedented. Not only because we bury the first president of our country, but for the first time after the revolution, all elements of the Orthodox rite are fully included in the burial ceremony." "And the fact that the coffin with the body of Boris Nikolaevich is in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and that all this time the relevant church services are taking place, this is a thing that before in Soviet times has never been included in the official protocol of the funeral of the head of state or persons who occupied high state positions," said Academician Vilinbakhov.

However, the funeral service of Boris Yeltsin with the mention of his title surprised the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the church canons, the grin of the funeral service should include the words "slave of God", but Yeltsin was buried as "the newly -trained first president of Russia Boris Nikolaevich." “In tsarist Russia, only kings and emperors were mentioned with the mention of titles. For example, the noble Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich,” said a representative of one of the dioceses of REGNUM . “The title of First President, in general, is not the best recommendation for the judgment of God,” said the representative of the Astrakhan Orthodox diocese.

Since the funeral procedure of the President of Russia has not yet been fully regulated, the State Commission was urgently created, which determined the details of the farewell and funeral ceremony. It was headed by the head of the presidential administration Sergey Sobyanin. The Kremlin immediately stated that Boris Yeltsin would be buried with "honors corresponding to the format of Grier." "There will be a company of honor guard of the Kremlin, a carriage, a salute, farewell and the last honors from foreign delegations," Kommersant said on the eve of the First Deputy Spokesman of the President Dmitry Peskov.

The executive secretary of the Heraldic Council under the President of the Russian Federation Gleb Kalashnikov also said that although the farewell ceremony with ex-presidents in Russia was “not really regulated”, Yeltsin will “be given all military honors” as a former supreme commander, including transportation on a carriage and salivation.

After the farewell, which lasted almost a day, after the panchid and funeral in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where more than 25 thousand Russians came to say goodbye to Yeltsin, representatives of official Russian and foreign delegations, a coffin with the body of the first president of Russia, accompanied by his relatives, friends, President Vladimir Putin and a company of honorary guard, went from the temple to the Novodevichy cemetery .

The coffin with the body of Yeltsin went from the temple in the cemetery on the Cadillac heat. Already on the Novodevichy, the coffin was put on a carriage. The cemetery was given a trocked gun salvo. The anthem of Russia was performed over the coffin. But since Boris Yeltsin died, being an ex -president, the “signs of the head of state - the presidential standard and the flag” were not involved in the funeral ceremony.

It is noteworthy that the farewell ceremony in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was led by Vladimir Shevchenko, who under Yeltsin began to create a modern state protocol of the new Russia.

Another remarkable fact is - the decree on the organization of the funeral of Boris Yeltsin signed by President Vladimir Putin is strikingly different from decrees of this kind. This official document was suddenly given an emotional coloring: “On April 23, 2007, the first president of the Russian Federation Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin will forever remain in the memory of the people of Russia as a reformer and a consistent supporter of democratic transformations in the country. Expressing sorrow in connection with the death of the first president of the Russian Federation Yeltsin, I decide:” - “ - with such words the decree began with such words. president. Typically, such documents are opened by a transfer of articles of the Constitution, which the head of state is guided by signing the decree.