Strasbourg, 24 September 1996 (RFE/RL) -- President Boris Yeltsin's health problems are creating an "explosive" situation in the country, says Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.
Zyuganov, who is attending a session of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, said today that central power in Russia is "very weak, and that the nation is now experiencing another "time of troubles."
He added that a country of Russia's size "must be led." Yeltsin's health, he said, is not merely a personal matter, but "a question of our national security."
Zyuganov said he was taking advantage of his stay in Strasbourg to meet with parliamentarians from some of the Council's 38 other member states. Zyuganov lost a presidential election to Yeltsin in July. He now accuses Yeltsin of having misled the Russian people about his health during the campaign.