Yeltsin hospitalized with pneumonia

Yeltsin had fallen ill with what aides described as bronchitis last Thursday and was convalescing at his country residence outside Moscow. After examining the president at home yesterday his doctors suspected he had pneumonia and decided to hospitalize him, the Kremlin said.

He was taken to the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow for examination and treatment.

Spokesperson Dmitry Yakushkin told the Echo Moscow radio station that Yeltsin would continue working while in the hospital, maintaining a ''partial workload.'' The president will be hospitalized for about a week, and still plans to meet with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on Dec. 6, Yakushkin said.

Yeltsin has been hospitalized several times in the past three years, usually with respiratory infections, including twice for pneumonia in 1997 and 1998. The Kremlin tends to hospitalize the ailing president at the first sign of illness.

Yeltsin underwent quintuple bypass surgery in November 1996 and suffered a bleeding ulcer earlier this year. The president was hospitalized briefly last month with the flu and a fever.

Russians have grown accustomed to the president's illnesses and prolonged absences from public view, and the latest setback was not expected to have much impact in Russia.

Even his opponents, who in the past have seized on his illnesses to renew calls for his ouster and to question his fitness to govern, remained silent yesterday.

Yeltsin insists he is capable of performing his duties and will stay in office until his term ends in June, despite concerns about his health. He was in much better health this summer, making regular public appearances, but he often falls ill with the onset of winter.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is running the government's day-to-day business, including the war against the breakaway region of Chechnya.

In Washington, White House spokesperson Joe Lockhart said: ''We have seen the reports that he has gone to the hospital. Obviously we wish him well, and a speedy recovery.''

He said President Clinton had commented on how healthy Yeltsin looked when they met at a summit in Istanbul two weeks ago.

Even when he is well, Yeltsin spends most of his time in his country residence, rarely putting in a full week at his Kremlin office.

Earlier yesterday, Yeltsin summoned Chief of Staff Alexander Voloshin to his residence for discussions.

In Russian television footage of the meeting, the two sat in chairs across a small table. The tape showed the president, dressed in a dark sweater, speaking emphatically to Voloshin, who nodded in agreement. The clip did not include Yeltsin's voice.

It was the first footage of Yeltsin shown to the public since he fell ill last week. The Kremlin, which released the footage, did not give details of Yeltsin's conversation with Voloshin.

11-30-99