PRESIDENT Boris Yeltsin shuffled his government yesterday with a clutch of senior appointments. Among them, as head of Russia's economic team, is a 35 year old banker who has never been in government before.
Mr Vladimir Potanin's appointment was seen by economists as likely to strengthen the free market reform camp, as he is considered to share many of the liberal views of Mr Anatoly Chubais, the former head of Russia's privatisation programme.
Mr Potanin, head of a commercial bank, will take over responsibility for economic policy from the former Avtovaz boss, Mr Vladimir Kadannikov (54), whose appointment in January led to dismay in the West because he was seen as a hardline Soviet style industrialist.
Although the measures he introduced proved less draconian than many feared, there have been widespread mutterings about his lack of economic knowledge.
The new cabinet, announced yesterday by the Prime Minister, Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, also includes Mr Viktor Ilyushin, a top Kremlin aide, and Mr Alexei Bolshakov, a relatively junior minister. They become first deputy prime ministers. There were no changes to the key defence, interior and foreign minister posts.
Meanwhile, Mr Yeltsin's senior security adviser, Gen Alexander Lebed, last night prepared for talks with the head of the Chechen separatists after being placed in personal charge of resolving the war by the Russian president.
The general set off for the meeting armed with a fistful of extra powers granted to him by Mr Yeltsin in the hope that they will help end a war that has long been a thorn in the side of the Kremlin, but which with rebels still controlling much of Grozny - has now become an even greater international embarrassment.
According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Gen Lebed last night flew by helicopter to a village 18 miles south east of Grozny to discuss ceasefire terms with the separatist leader, Mr Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, and the Chechen chief of staff, Gen Aslan Maskhadov, in a fresh effort to end the bloodshed, which has so far claimed more than 30,000 lives.
His mission, part of his second visit to the troubled republic in five days, came as thousands of refugees took advantage of a lull in the fighting to flee Grozny.
All previous attempts at negotiations between the Kremlin and the Chechens have collapsed in disarray, partly because Russia remains unwilling to grant the separatists' demands for outright independence.
However, the assault on Grozny has been a jarring blow to Moscow, and will serve as a reminder that the war simply cannot be solved by what the Russian military called their policy of "coercion to peace".
Although they have far less weaponry and number only several thousand, the Chechen fighters have proved that they are remarkably tenacious and probably unbeatable.
They have several advantages over their opponents: many of their commanders have served in the Soviet army, and know how it functions; they know the territory, and have the overwhelming support of the population, which provides food and shelter while the Chechen disapora provides finance.
By contrast, the federal forces are torn by rivalries, dismal conditions, and a lack of appetite for a war over a cause few Russians feel is worth the price, either in life or in national dignity.