DEFENSE MINISTRY REBUFFS COMMUNISTS.

According to an unnamed Defense Ministry source, Russian defense minister Pavel Grachev has denied a request from Gennady Zyuganov’s Communist party election staff to be allowed to campaign among soldiers and military cadets. Zyuganov reportedly hoped to conduct meetings this month and next with students at military schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as with servicemen attached to various units based in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Volga region. Defense Ministry officials were said to have referred to Article 18 of the Russian law on defense, which prohibits political activities on military bases (Itar-Tass, April 12) On April 8, Russia’s General Staff chief informed commanders that campaigning on military bases is banned by law. On the same day the Defense Ministry leadership issued a statement that could have been interpreted as an endorsement of Boris Yeltsin. (See Monitor, April 9)

Yeltsin Urges Korean Unification.