MOSCOW, April 23: Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who played a key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union and introduced free-market democracy to Russia, died on Monday from a heart attack. He was 76.

Boris Yeltsin, who had long been ailing, died at 3:45pm (1145 GMT) in Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital of coronary and vascular failure, presidential medical service chief Sergei Mironov told Interfax news agency.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, paid a mixed tribute to Yeltsin. The United States hailed the landmark Russian leader, however.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the family of a man on whose shoulders rested many great deeds for the good of the country and serious mistakes -- a tragic fate,” the former Soviet leader was quoted by Interfax as saying.

The White House praised Yeltsin’s historical role.

“He was an historic figure during a time of great change and challenge for Russia. Our condolences go to Mrs Yeltsin, their family and the people of Russia,” said US national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

A bear of a man with a penchant for flamboyant gestures, Yeltsin will perhaps be best remembered around the world for bravely clambering onto a tank sent into Moscow in 1991 by communist hardliners attempting a coup in the dying days of the Soviet Union.—AFP