"There is such a thing as law and democracy and it was under Yeltsin that this began to be understood. In the end it was for him about self-respect and reputation and now he has left us in the same way," Izvestia said.
A poll by the Levada Analytical Centre in December found 70 percent think the Yeltsin era did more harm than good. Half thought he should be prosecuted.
Friends said history would judge Yeltsin more favorably as the father -- however flawed -- of Russian democracy.
"I consider that [he] did the absolute impossible. He brought us from no freedom to liberty," said Anatoly Chubais, one of the architects of liberal economic reforms under Yeltsin.
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