MILITARY PROTESTERS ALSO VOTING WITH THEIR FEET.

While members of the armed forces continue to be driven to suicide — as when an officer in the financial section of the Moscow Military District set himself on fire on July 19 — many others seem to be simply walking off the job. On July 18, ten sailors reportedly deserted from a Northern Fleet submarine about to sail on an operational patrol. The remaining members of the crew were said to have refused to sail without them. Yesterday, the Defense Ministry reported that 40 soldiers serving in the Ground Forces had gone absent without leave during the previous night, while another group of 47 had been detained and sent back to their units last week. The source said that most incidents of this kind have been taking place in the North Caucasus and Far Eastern Military Districts. (Russian agencies, July 22 & 23; NTV, July 21)

Rash Of Attacks on Westerners in Vilnius.