Russians remember Sakharov

RFE/RL Newsline

MOSCOW - On what would have been Academician Andrei Sakharov's 80th birthday, Russians commemorated the Soviet academician, nuclear physicist and human rights activist, Russian and Western agencies reported on May 21.

Human rights ombudsman Oleg Mironov said that Dr. Sakharov made "a gigantic contribution" to the formation of the human rights movement in the former Soviet Union.

Communist leader Gennadii Zyuganov stressed the academician's contribution to the defense of the Soviet Union but said that his political activities had "negative consequences," which he had failed to foresee.

Meanwhile, Yabloko leader Grigorii Yavlinsky told Interfax that one of Dr. Sakharov's main contributions was his stress on the importance of morality in politics. The Yabloko leader expressed regret that over the last decade "we have not been able to create the foundation of a free democratic society" about which the human rights activist dreamed. "Today the country needs a new course," Mr. Yavlinsky added.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 27, 2001, No. 21, Vol. LXIX

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