Borys Jelcyn — Obalił ZSRR i został pierwszym prezydentem Rosji | Film dokumentalny

Boris Yeltsin—from the grandson of a kulak to Russia's first president. Who really was the man who stood on a tank in front of the White House, toppled the Soviet Union, and changed the course of twentieth-century history? In this episode, I will trace Boris Yeltsin's extraordinary journey—from a small Ural village where his grandfather was repressed as a kulak, through the construction of Sverdlovsk, where the young engineer broke records by erecting apartment blocks in seventy-five days, to the Kremlin offices where the fate of the largest empire of the twentieth century was decided. This is the story of a man full of contradictions. Yeltsin began his career with a lie—hiding his origins to gain entry into the Communist Party. As First Secretary of Sverdlovsk, he governed the region with an iron fist, simultaneously breaking the taboos of the Soviet system—building housing estates that created communities uncontrolled by the party, organizing five-hour meetings with residents broadcast live on television, and forcing arms factories to produce pottery. Four years before the announcement of perestroika, his region was already a laboratory of changes that would engulf the entire Soviet Union. Transferred to Moscow by Gorbachev, Yeltsin quickly overstepped the bounds of his assigned role. He attacked the privileges of the party nomenklatura, criticized the General Secretary himself, and was publicly humiliated at a Central Committee plenum. Riddled with tranqilizers, barely able to stand, he was forced to repent to those with whom he had recently sat at the same table. It seemed his political career was over. But Yeltsin returned. He won the first partially free elections in Soviet history with 80 percent of the vote. He learned humility among democrats and intellectuals. He became speaker of the Russian parliament. He publicly broke with the Communist Party in front of millions of television viewers. And in August 1991, when putschists attempted to seize power, he climbed onto a tank and read a message to the nation, becoming a symbol of resistance to the coup. In this film, I also explore the most challenging chapters of his presidency—the Belavezha Accords that ended the Soviet Union, Yegor Gaidar's economic shock therapy that impoverished millions of Russians, the bloody confrontation with parliament in October 1993, when tanks shelled the very White House Yeltsin had defended two years earlier, the Chechen wars, the rise of the oligarchy, and the dramatic elections of 1996. All the way to New Year's Eve 1999, when the tired, ailing president asked the nation for forgiveness and handed power to Vladimir Putin. This episode is an attempt to understand a man who cannot be clearly judged—a builder and a destroyer, a democrat and an autocrat, a revolutionary who, in the end, apologized for the fact that his dreams proved more difficult than reality. The film is intended solely for educational and documentary purposes. The facts presented are based on historical sources, witness accounts, and archival materials. Controversial historical issues are presented in a balanced manner, taking into account diverse interpretations and perspectives. Author: Stanisław Wiśniewiecki All rights to the content of this video, including the script, narration, editing, and graphic design, belong to the author of the channel. Copying, distributing, or using any portion or all of the material without the author's written consent is prohibited and constitutes a violation of copyright protected by Polish and international law. #BorisYeltsin #RussianHistory #USSR #HistoricalDocument #ColdWar