Yeltsin Not Near Surgery, Kremlin Says

Amid news reports that the president is hospitalized awaiting heart surgery, the Kremlin said Tuesday that Boris Yeltsin left the capital on a sudden trip to inspect a possible vacation site.

Echo Moscow radio reported that 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 Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.

Grigory Domba, the chief doctor at Moscow Cardiological Center, also denied the report.