Yeltsin wanted to make lives of Russians better: Putin

Moscow, Apr 25 (UNI) Russian President Vladimir Putin today said that First democratically elected President of the country Boris Yeltsin ''sincerely tried to do everything possible to make the lives of millions of Russians better''.

''We will seek that goal,'' the President said in a reception after Yeltsin's burial at Moscow's Novodevichy cemetery.

''Such personalities as Yeltsin do not die, they continue to live in ideas and aspirations of peoples, in successes and achievements of the Motherland,'' Mr Putin said.

''We have just said the last good-bye to Yeltsin. We said good-bye to a decisive person with strong will, a person of a scale and soul inherent to Russia, he added.

The Russian President expressed the confidence that only such a leader brought up and cherished by the energy of great Russia could have inspired and turned the country to radical changes.

''Having become a president through the support of millions of Russians, he changed the image of the authorities, broke down the thick wall between society and the state and served Russians devotedly and courageously, he noted.

UNI