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Putin Marks Russia Day with Award
President Vladimir Putin marked ``Russia Day'' Tuesday with veiled criticism of Boris Yeltsin's patchy record on reform, then promptly bestowed an award on his predecessor for services to the nation.
Putin signed a decree making Yeltsin the first Russian to receive the ``Order of Merit of the Fatherland, First Grade'' at a Kremlin reception marking Russia Day.
Yeltsin, whose shock resignation on New Year's Eve, 1999, catapulted Putin into the presidency, attended the glittering Kremlin event with his wife Naina and scores of figures from Russia's political, business and cultural life.
``Today we mark the 10th anniversary of the institution of the Russian presidency. This day is an historic day linked to the name of Russia's first president, Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin,'' Putin said.
June 12 marks Yeltsin's 1991 election as president of the Russian Federation, but also coincides with the anniversary of a 1990 vote by the Congress of People's Deputies setting out Russia's democratic goals within the Soviet Union.
Although officially the main state public holiday, an opinion poll broadcast by NTV television revealed most Russians were confused about what they are actually celebrating.
Only nine percent knew that June 12 is officially the ``Day of the Passage of the Declaration of State Sovereignty,'' while 57 percent mistakenly thought it was independence day.
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