Yeltsin cancels week’s meetings as surgery nears

Julia Rubin

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

MOSCOW -- President Boris Yeltsin today canceled all meetings for this week because of unspecified medical tests during what his spokesman called "the final stage of preparations" for heart surgery.

Yeltsin also ordered his former bodyguard and one-time close friend to be relieved of his military duties because of what the president said were "slanderous statements" about him and his family.

Presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told a Kremlin news conference that Yeltsin's doctors had recommended complete rest while he undergoes the tests. He said even the president's weekly meeting with the prime minister would be canceled.

"The preparations have entered their final stage," Yastrzhembsky said. "Everything is proceeding as normal."

Yastrzhembsky did not release any details about the nature of the medical tests or say when the surgery would occur. But he indicated there was no change in the president's health.

Yeltsin has been holding almost daily meetings at a government health resort outside Moscow while awaiting multiple heart bypass surgery, expected to take place sometime between mid-November and mid-December.

Yeltsin has said he will temporarily transfer power to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin during his operation. Asked today if the time had come for the transfer, Yastrzhembsky said, "So far it doesn't mean that."

While absent from the Kremlin, Yeltsin has issued frequent decrees. In an order dated today, Yeltsin accused former bodyguard Alexander Korzhakov of "a series of slanderous statements concerning the Russian president and members of his family," and of releasing confidential information and trying to discredit top state officials.

Korzhakov, a lieutenant general in the state security services, wielded enormous behind-the-scenes power before being fired as Yeltsin's personal security chief in June. He has since emerged as a key player in Kremlin power struggles, and threatened to disclose incriminating evidence against unspecified officials.

Korzhakov has told reporters that Yeltsin is too sick to govern and should resign. He accuses the president's younger daughter, Tatyana, and chief of staff Anatoly Chubais of wielding the true power in Russia.

Yastrzhembsky said Korzhakov would be relieved of his military duties because of "the cumulative effect" of his critical statements.

Yeltsin said he "crudely violated his duties as a serviceman, as well as ethical standards, and stained the honor of a Russian officer."

Korzhakov's office would not immediately comment.

Tensions between Korzhakov and Chubais, a skilled political survivor who gained prominence as an architect of economic reforms, sharpened in June after the first round of Yeltsin's re-election campaign.

When Korzhakov's people arrested two campaign workers, Chubais -- who was heading the campaign -- used the incident to depose him.

Since then, Korzhakov has allied himself with Alexander Lebed, the outspoken retired general who was fired as national security chief this month and who also accuses Chubais of a power grab.

Lebed supported Korzhakov's bid to be elected to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, from Lebed's constituency. The alliance enraged Yeltsin.

"Korzhakov is out of office, and (Lebed) took him to Tula to represent him there as his successor," Yeltsin said in an angry speech announcing Lebed's ouster. "He's found himself a successor! Like one, like the other, you know. Two generals!"

Korzhakov was an officer in the Soviet KGB, and retained his rank.

He had for years been Yeltsin's constant companion. Yeltsin's wife, Naina, said after Korzhakov's dismissal that it was like losing a member of the family.

Korzhakov's toughest accusations so far have targeted Chubais, rather than Yeltsin himself.

"I worked with Boris Nikolayevich for 11 years," he told a news conference earlier this month. "I've seen a lot and I know a lot: How people climbed up the ladder, the intrigues, the wild parties, a lot of things that happened abroad."

archive