BUDENNOVSK FALLOUT CONTINUES

. The fallout from the Budennovskhostage taking continues to shake the Russian Federation. InStavropol kray itself, local protests forced Yeltsin to change the public reasons for dismissing the governor. Now Eduard Kuznetsovwill go "at his own request," Ostankino televisionreported July 4. Officials in that region said that they had arrested seven militiamen for allowing Chechen raider ShamilBasayev to reach the city, the station said. And the local representativeof the Russian Orthodox Church urged officials not to followCossack demands to expel Muslims, Moscow radio reported. Meanwhile,Russian polls suggested that nearly a third of all Russians believe that the Budennovsk raid will lead only to more bloodshed,Interfax reported July 3. And Federation Council speaker Vladimir Shumeiko highlighted just how unprepared the authorities werefor the raid: he told Russian television July 3 that Russiandeputy premier Nikolai Yegorov had had to use a megaphone in Budennovsk, "just like any militiaman," to communicate.

Military Furious at Yeltsin’s Support for Country’S "Second"Army