Yeltsin is liar: Gorbachev
Ten years after the demise of the Soviet Union, former leader Mikhail Gorbachev has launched an attack on his successor Boris Yeltsin.
He called the former Russian President a "liar"' who had helped to destroy the superpower.
Gorbachev, who reigned as Soviet leader 10 years ago, said he wanted to reform the USSR and turn it into a union of sovereign states, but Yeltsin had other plans and wanted to destroy the union.
He added that the collapse of the Soviet Union had brought widespread poverty and that Yeltsin had a thirst for power.
However, he was full of praise for the current Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, calling him a "talented, mature politician who knows how to listen".
