A Bodyguard On The Make

TULA, Russia: Six months after he was ousted in a Kremlin power struggle, former Yeltsin bodyguard and right-hand man Alexander Korzhakov has returned to power and is threatening to uncover a dark history of Kremlin corruption. Korzhakov's election to parliament, which gives him the added benefit of immunity from prosecution, gives him a significant base to work against archrival Anatoly Chubais as they jockey in preparation for Russian after Yeltsin. Before his ouster last July, Korzhakov had worked for Yeltsin since his days as head of the Moscow Communist Party. He emerged in the Russian press as a shadowy figure with lucrative business interests and his own multimillion-dollar military compound, whose support was sought for everything from state policies to key ministerial appointments. Last July, Korzhakov was fired by Yeltsin amid feuding with Chubais, a key Yeltsin campaign official who now serves as chief of staff. Korzhakov contends that Chubais and Yeltsin's daughter and influential aide, Tatiana Dyachenko, have since siphoned power away from the President and are running the country through him. While Korzhakov says he feels sorry for Yeltsin, don't look for the granite-faced former KGB employee to go easy on the President who is now a bitter enemy. Yeltsin, in any case, is ill equipped to stand up to public scandal. For the first time since the President's disappearance from public view, a Kremlin official conceded Tuesday that Yeltsin's recovery is going slower than expected.