RUSSIA SEEN AT THE "THRESHOLD OF FAMINE."

VasilyStarodubtsev, a leader of the Agrarian Union, told Moscow radioAugust 18 that the Russian government had led the country to the"threshold of a famine." Russian officials denied thatsuggestion and earlier media reports that this year’s harvestwould be below 50 million tons, but they did acknowledge thatthe harvest might be as little as 67-69 million tons and thatMoscow might have to import grain to prevent major increases inthe price of basic staples, Russian television reported August18.