Yelena Bonner, Soviet critic, Sakharov widow, dies

Yelena Bonner

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Yelena Bonner, a relentless  critic of human rights abuses by Soviet-era authorities and the  widow of Nobel Peace laureate Andrei Sakharov, has died at the  age of 88, her children said.

Bonner continued to advocate rights and democracy in  post-communist Russia and was outspoken against Prime Minister  Vladimir Putin.

Bonner died on Saturday in the United States, where she had  lived in recent years in the Boston area, her daughter Tatiana  Yankelevich and son