ABSENCE OF "THIRD FORCE" DEPLORED.

Today’s issue of the popular newspaper Komsomolskaya pravda echoes Yavlinsky’s complaint about the absence of a "third force" in the Russian election campaign. Under the headline, "There are eleven presidential candidates but there is still no choice," the newspaper comments, "There’s no hope any third candidate will be able to compete with the two giants [Yeltsin and Zyuganov]." In recent weeks virtually all the Russian mass media have swung their support behind Yeltsin, the newspaper continues, and other candidates are virtually ignored. Material supporting Yeltsin now accounts for some 75 percent of campaign information published in the newspapers and 90 percent of television commentary, the paper asserts. (Komsomolskaya pravda, April 30)

Chechen Forces Intensify Resistance.