Yeltsin Resigns, Oligarchs Elevate Putin to President: KGB Officer Chosen to Protect 'The Family' Transforms Russia into Kleptocracy

Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia on December 31, 1999, elevating Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Acting President six months before scheduled elections. The succession had been carefully engineered by Yeltsin’s oligarchic allies, known as ’the family,’ who began …