In any other country, such an amateurish piece of provocation might have caused only shrugs. But this is Russia, where the president blasts the Parliament with cannon fire and where “Swan Lake” on television means a coup is underway. The coup story stoked new concerns about Yeltsin’s health. The president doesn’t appear well; he walks stiffly because of a back problem and looks puffy. He missed work for three weeks last month with what his aides called the flu. CBS News reported that Yeltsin suffers from cirrhosis of the liver. Russian officials concede that the president goes on drinking binges, but it is unclear whether they affect his ability to rule. U.S. intelligence sources told NEWSWEEK they don’t think Yeltsin is dangerously ill.
Still, Russia’s state-controlled Ostankino TV inadvertently fueled the rumors with a humbling PR campaign’. The station ran footage of Yeltsin swimming, then showed him meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. When ABC News reported that the swimming shots were old footage, Ostankino officials said they had forgotten to label the material “file.” A day later, a station official said that the Chernomyrdin-Yeltsin tape was also old. The government’s eagerness to portray a vigorous president only increased the widespread belief that he was indeed ill. If Yeltsin meets with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev this week in Moscow, as scheduled, worries about his health may dissipate. But concerns about his ability to lead a troubled country won’t be so easily assuaged.
