RUSSIA:Former US presidents Bill Clinton and George H Bush will lead the international dignitaries joining Russia's elite at the funeral today of Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first president following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Mourners measurable by their hundreds rather than thousands went to pay their last respects to Mr Yeltsin as he lay in state in the Orthodox Church's massive Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in central Moscow yesterday afternoon, with most remembering him for his efforts to end communist rule.
In a break with Soviet tradition, where leaders lie in the shadow of Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square, Mr Yeltsin will be buried in the graveyard at Novodevichye monastery.
Eminent Russians linked to the country's post-Soviet era such as Raisa Gorbacheva, wife of the last Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, have been buried there.
Today has also been officially declared a national day of mourning, with President Vladimir Putin delaying his final address to the nation until tomorrow. Among other mourners today will be leaders from neighbouring countries including Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Former Polish president Lech Walesa will attend, while EU countries with close ties to Russia will send senior representatives. These include German president Horst Köhler and French foreign minister Philippe Doust-Blazy.
Most other European countries are being represented by elder statesman or by their ambassadors. The Irish Government will be represented by the Ambassador to Russia, Justin Harman.
The Russian print media followed the pattern displayed by broadcasters after the announcement of Mr Yeltsin's death from heart failure, providing limited coverage of his mixed legacy.