Alexander Lebed. His last flight

Yesterday, Russia commemorated 40 days since the death of General Alexander Lebed. I am sure that there were thousands of men and women who bowed their heads and drank in his memory. I am also sure that there were very few people who recollected the political intrigues in which Lebed participated. People simply remembered the Russian man, a strong, smart, tough man.

He was the first! He wasn't a political figure; he was a conspicuous person against the background of Russian politicians, the majority of which are not interesting personalities, with all the respect that is paid to them. Lebed was that kind of person, and people loved him for what he was. His image became a national image; it was even portrayed in several Russian movies. He was the first Russian politician who could tell jokes to the camera off the cut, even when things were too hard and too sad.

Is it true, or not? I do not know. When he was boarding the helicopter, he said that he was claiming responsibility for the flight as well as for everything else that was happening around him.

There is a stone on the site of his death, and there will soon be a chapel built there. There are tons of flowers around the gravesite where he was buried.

Elena Kiseleva PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov