Mikhail Gorbachev's public campaign against corruption in the Soviet Union is now touching the friends of former President Leonid Brezhnev and his family. Acquaintances of Brezhnev's daughter Galina and his son Yuri are reportedly being questioned about bribery involving the use of posh hotel rooms and of restaurants for private banquets attended by well-connected figures from the Brezhnev era. The state-controlled press, without mentioning Brezhnev by name, has criticized the cronyism fostered during his 18-year rule.
There is also a whiff of scandal involving some of Moscow's better-known bathhouses, traditional Russian meeting places for relaxation and banter. In a country where the private lives of important people are almost never discussed, there are rumors that several bathhouses were used by officials for after-hours orgies.
Gorbachev has given unmistakable warning that corruption carries a high price. A food-shop manager in Rostov-on-Don was executed last fall for hoarding choice items, and two slaughterhouse officials in Kirghizia were sentenced to death for falsely labeling the quality and weight of meat.