Dear Nina Ivanovna [Yakovleva],
I sincerely share your grief.
In your husband’s passing we have lost an influential scholar and a man who played an important part in the life of our state.
Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev has done much for the democratic regeneration of our country, for the development of a civil society, and for the development of a lawful state in which freedom and individual dignity are the supreme values. As head of the Commission for Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression, his fidelity to principles and consistency has helped thousands of people regain their reputation.
Warm memories of Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev will remain forever in the hearts of all who knew this brilliant and extraordinary man and who respected his courage, honesty and decency.
On this sorrowful day please accept my profound condolences and my words of sympathy and support.
President Vladimir Putin