Yeltsin Looking Thinner, Less Puffy First Post-Op Photo Of Ailing Russian President Published

Boris Yeltsin looked thinner and less puffy Saturday in the first picture of the Russian president published since his multiple heart bypass operation.

The photograph taken by Yeltsin’s press service and published on the front page of Moscow’s Segodnya newspaper showed him smiling and drinking tea in his hospital suite with his wife Naina and his granddaughter Masha.

Yeltsin appeared thinner and showed none of the puffiness that marked his public appearances before undergoing the quintuple bypass operation Nov. 5.

Yeltsin’s press service said his condition was stable, with all vital signs normal.

“There are no breathing difficulties, and temperature readings are normal in the morning and evening hours,” the report said. “Stitches have been partially removed from operative incisions.”

Yeltsin spent four hours Saturday working on documents and succeeded in clearing off his desk, his press service said.

He signed several decrees, including one authorizing Russian state agencies, companies, banks and individuals to comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution that lifted sanctions against Yugoslavia.