COMMUNISTS SAID READY TO SWITCH FROM BALLOTS TO BULLETS.

Nezavismaya gazeta on June 8 published what it claims is an internal briefing document prepared by the Yeltsin team. Apparently based on wire-taps and other secret information, the document assesses the strength of the opposition and concludes that the Russian Communist party (KPRF) has reconciled itself to the fact that its candidate, Gennady Zyuganov, will lose next weekend’s presidential election and accordingly adopted a new strategy. The report claims that a KPRF Central Committee plenum last month saw the return to influence of radical communist leaders who favor the violent seizure of power. The party is said to be arming underground units and maintaining links with Chechen separatists aimed at derailing Yeltsin’s peace efforts.

Though Nezavisimaya gazeta says it believes the document to be genuine, skepticism is in order in view of the large number of forgeries in the Russian media recently. The document’s alarmist and accusatory tone is, however, in keeping with the allegations hurled last week at the KPRF by presidential aide Georgy Satarov. (see reports in last week’s Monitor)

Military Commanders Criticized for Election Appeal.