Boston, Jun 20 (PTI) Expressing sadness over the death of noted Russian rights activist Yelena Bonner, the US has said that her life played a key role in the human rights community not only in Russia but also around the world.
"We note with profound sadness the death of Yelena Bonner, an extraordinary voice among human rights defenders in the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation," US State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
Nuland said, "Bonner's own history, from the political arrests of her parents in the 1930s to the years of exile with her husband Andrey Sakharov, is an important part of the human rights community in Russia and around the world today."
Bonner passed away in Boston on Saturday. She was 88 and had undergone three heart surgeries.
She had a long history of heart problems and suffered heart attacks in 1995 and 1996.