EVEN FOR A COUNTRY IN PERPETUAL CRISIS, EVENTS in Russia last week seemed more foreboding than usual. While President Boris Yeltsin was on an impromptu vacation, he continued to trade accusations -- but made no progress in resolving differences over how to share power -- with archrival Ruslan Khasbulatov, the capricious chairman of Russia's parliament. In remarks echoed by his Defense Minister, Pavel Grachev, Yeltsin used an interview on the eve of the biggest Soviet-era military holiday to rebuke hard-liners, including dissident officers, for trying "to play the army card" in a bid to derail Russian democracy. The next day 20,000...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
