LEBED WILL NOT RUN IN TULA.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 36

The newest member of the Russian parliament, disgraced Yeltsin bodyguard Aleksandr Korzhakov, met his constituents in Tula yesterday for the formal handing over of his mandate to represent them in Moscow. Korzhakov revealed that former Kremlin security boss Aleksandr Lebed will not, contrary to rumors, run for the post of governor of Tula oblast next month. Korzhakov, who said Lebed telephoned him from France to congratulate him on his parliamentary victory, expressed regret at Lebed’s decision. Korzhakov said he was also sorry that former first deputy premier Oleg Soskovets, who was ousted from power simultaneously with Korzhakov last summer, has also decided not to stand in Tula’s gubernatorial election. (NTV, Itar-Tass, February 19) Given the Russian voter’s fondness for the underdog, those decisions probably mean that the favorite to win election is Vasily Starodubtsev, a leader of the Agrarian party who was one of the plotters of the August 1991 coup that brought down the USSR.

Lebed’s Younger Brother Making Waves in New Job.