RUSSIA CHOOSES.

Russia is voting today on whether to reelect Boris Yeltsin president or to return to Communist rule. Yeltsin has not appeared in public for a week, but Western speculation over the state of his health has not been reflected in the Russian press, which has remained largely silent on the issue. Russian Television this morning showed brief footage of Yeltsin and his wife Naina leaving a polling station at an exclusive complex of government residences and rest-homes outside Moscow where the president has been "nursing a bad cold" since the weekend. He moved stiffly and smiled briefly, according to a BBC correspondent, who said it was impossible to judge the state of his health from such a brief glimpse — which suggests that his indisposition is more serious than the cold and sore throat his aides have claimed. (BBC World Service, July 3) Today’s Washington Post carries an unconfirmed story which cites Kremlin sources as saying Yeltsin is under medical supervision at his country residence with only his family in attendance.

Lebed Reaches for Wider Powers.