DUSHANBE, April 25, Asia-Plus - A national day of mourning begins in Russia, ahead of the state funeral of former President Boris Yeltsin.

A Tajik delegation led by Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov has left for Moscow to attend the state funeral of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin. 

The service will take place in a grand cathedral in Moscow

The first president of post-Soviet Russia, Boris Yeltsin died from heart failure on Monday, aged 76.

His coffin is open for public viewing at Christ the Saviour Cathedral on Wednesday morning, before his state funeral later on Wednesday.

The list of dignitaries flying to Moscow for the ceremony includes Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev as well as contemporary leaders like former US President Bill Clinton and his predecessor George Bush Snr, ex-British Prime Minister John Major, and former Polish President Lech Walesa, etc.  

Boris Yeltsin will be buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, dating to the 16th century, which is a burial ground for many Russian and Soviet writers, composers, scientists and politicians.