In pictures: Russians mourn Yeltsin

Hundreds of mourners queued outside Christ the Saviour cathedral in Moscow to bid farewell to ex-Russian leader Boris Yeltsin, whose body was lying in state.

Mr Yeltsin, who played a key role in ending Communist rule in Russia, died of heart failure on Monday, aged 76.

His body was brought to the cathedral, which was once destroyed by Joseph Stalin but rebuilt in the 1990s under Mr Yeltsin's rule.

Mr Yeltsin's body will be on public view until his state funeral and burial on Wednesday.

His funeral will be the first sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a former head of state since Tsar Alexander III's in 1894.

A national day of mourning has been declared for Wednesday, as Russians reflect on the passing of the colourful and controversial figure.

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