Yeltsin calls out the spin doctor
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.IT USED to be that foreign leaders would visit Moscow to be assured that a doddery old man with a shabby suit and a shaky finger on the nuclear button was in the peak of good health. Now the ritual has been reversed.
When John Major met Boris Yeltsin yesterday for toasts in the Kremlin, the Russian President seemed reasonably sturdy. He looked a bit pale, but stood up throughout a brief press conference and made cracks about tennis and cricket.
Then the Kremlin image men got to work, adding spin to what journalists thought they had seen. 'Yeltsin does not look well,' said Anatoly Krasikov, a Kremlin spokesman. 'He has not yet properly recovered from a bad cold.'
Indeed, so fragile is Mr Yeltsin's health said to be that a long-awaited state of the nation address on Friday is in doubt. 'I have a growing impression that Boris Nikolayevich will postpone his speech to Parliament,' added Mr Krasikov.
The President has been rumoured to suffer from a range of diseases, many linked to repeated, but never wholly substantiated, reports of binge drinking. Yesterday's encounter with Mr Major was his first public appearance since a trip to Georgia nearly two weeks ago. Mr Major said later the Russian President had 'a nasty cough' and a 'bad chest cold'.
His aides used to follow the old script: routine denials of any talk of ill-health. Last week, though, came 'the cold' - tantamount in the old days to asking for volunteers as pall- bearers. Mr Yeltsin's 'cold' has proved less lethal than those caught by Brezhnev, Andropov or Chernenko.
The mystery bug was first mentioned to explain why Mr Yeltsin had left his office in the Kremlin and retreated to a dacha in the country, where he was said to busy consulting world leaders by telephone about Sarajevo.
The story quickly unravelled. Washington complained that President Bill Clinton had been trying for two days to 'consult' Mr Yeltsin but had not got through. Other foreign leaders had no more luck. Mr Clinton and Mr Yeltsin did finally talk at the end of the week.
The Kremlin may have altered its rituals, but the old enigmas of who is really in charge seem as securely wrapped in mystery as ever.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments