Avoid the traffic... take the Ferry to Martha's Vineyard.
Avoid the traffic... take the Ferry to Martha's Vineyard.
MOSCOW -- Amid news reports that the president is hospitalized awaiting heart surgery, the Kremlin said yesterday that Boris Yeltsin left the capital on a sudden trip to inspect a possible vacation site.
Echo Moscow radio reported that Mr. Yeltsin has been in a Moscow heart clinic since Thursday in "moderately grave" condition, but quoted presidential spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky denying the report as "complete nonsense."
Doctors were discussing whether to operate within the next few hours, Echo Moscow said yesterday, citing unidentified sources.
Grigory Domba, the chief doctor at Moscow Cardiological Center, also denied the report, telling Echo Moscow that Mr. Yeltsin was not there.
The independent radio station is known for aggressive news coverage but its sources have not always proven accurate.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Yeltsin's spokesman issued a statement saying the president has gone to the countryside near Lake Valdai to see if the area would be suitable for his vacation.
"In connection with continuing guesses and allegations on the president's whereabouts, I would like to say the following: The president has left for a two-day trip to Valdai to see whether he can spend his vacation there," Mr. Yastrzhembsky said in the statement.
Mr. Yastrzhembsky did not say precisely when Mr. Yeltsin left.
The Lake Valdai region, about 280 miles northwest of Moscow, is a popular resort area with a number of government facilities.
Presidential aides have said Mr. Yeltsin is well but needs to rest up after his rigorous re-election campaign this spring and summer.
The 65-year-old president has been on what Mr. Yastrzhembsky called a "semi-vacation" since the election, working a few hours a day, issuing decrees and choosing Russia's new Cabinet.
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