A DOCTOR treating President Boris Yeltsin for pneumonia yesterday described the Russian leader as a man who pushed himself to the limit and said he was depressed at falling sick so soon after his heart operation.
Dr Sergei Mironov, head of the Kremlin medical centre, told a news briefing at the Central Clinical Hospital that Mr Yeltsin would remain there for at least another three days and spend a further three weeks recovering at home.
Dr Mironov said the pneumonia was not linked to the President's by-pass surgery on November 5th and that there were no grounds for pessimism. But he made it clear that Mr Yeltsin's morale had suffered and that he had been reluctant to return to hospital.
"He should have been brought here a few days earlier, and we proposed this," Dr Mironov said.
"But it is possible to understand him purely psychologically. The man had just recovered from one very serious problem when a second one appeared, though it was a smaller one.
"I understand him as a person, but as a doctor I have another position. Of course I cannot say [President] Boris Nikolayevich [Yeltsin] feels comfortable spiritually. Of course this is depressing him. Of course his mood is not a very happy one - but I see no reason for particular pessimism."
Mr Yeltsin would recover at his residence, but he would not be isolated completely from visitors to protect him from a flu epidemic which has hit Moscow in recent weeks, he said.
"This illness is not something extreme. The increased media and public attention could be explained by a desire to link his illness to the surgery. I can say clearly there is no connection here," Dr Mironov added.
Dr Mironov portrayed the 65-year-old Kremlin leader as a man determined to do everything for himself.
After his operation Mr Yeltsin had "not been prepared to do things by halves" but wanted to push himself to the limit. " `Must' always was his motto. He always was a man of duty," Dr Mironov said.
But there was a sign yesterday that the Russian leader could be facing up to hf limitations, when he asked for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) which he was due to attend in Moscow next Friday to be postponed.
Officials said the decision was not linked to Mr Yeltsin's illness and blamed the postponement on organisational problems.
The CIS secretary, Mr Ivan Korotchenya, speaking in Minsk, Belarus, said Mr Yeltsin had also requested the delay to allow President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, who had planned another foreign trip, to attend.
But it seemed likely the decision was at least partly connected to Mr Yeltsin's recuperation, considering his anticipated three-week recovery period at home.
Looking to the future, Dr Mironov said he did not think the pneumonia would lead to a string of illnesses.
But he added: "We should cure the President properly and restore his condition of one week ago. This will be the best guarantee against more illnesses and difficulties."
. The presidential election race in Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya is turning bitter as differences grow between leading, candidates.
Out of 16 runners, only five appear to have a realistic chance. These include the guerrilla commander, Mr Shamil Basayev, the acting president, Mr Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, and Mr Aslan Maskhadov, who recently resigned as head of the interim government.