Yeltsin Returns To Hospital
He's been attempting a comeback. For the first time in months, Boris Yeltsin worked a full five-day week at the Kremlin. The Russian president made a public appearance nearly every day last week, honoring Russia's veterans and meeting foreign dignitaries.
He even went on TV to express his annoyance at the repeated calls for his resignation, reports CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins.
Yeltsin's increased workload was intended to show that he's healthy, and still in charge. Instead, it's put him back in the hospital with a bleeding stomach ulcer.
The Kremlin press service reported that doctors at the Central Clinical hospital performed a gastroscopic examination and want to treat the ulcer further.
Yeltsin spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin told the Interfax news agency, "the president underwent gastroscopic examination and the doctors came to the conclusion that the ulcer should be treated in the hospital."
The same problem sidelined the 68-year-old Russian leader earlier this year. To treat the relapse, the president's doctor is recommending several days of bed-rest.
Yeltsin's never been one to follow doctors' orders, though. Against their advice, he flew to Jordan to attend King Hussein's funeral. But he had to be rushed back to Moscow before the burial.
He didn't look well then and hasn't since. But his doctor says Yeltsin's condition is stable and his life is not in danger.
As if to prove it, Yeltsin told his prime minister, Yevgeny Primakov, to go on vacation.
After speaking with Yeltsin over the telephone, Primakov departed Saturday for a 10-day vacation in the southern Russian resort of Sochi.
Primakov, who would take over if the president dies in office, has been running the country for months while Yeltsin's been sick. By ordering his number two to get out of town, Yeltsin is making it clear that even if he's bedridden, he's still the boss.
Yeltsin has been a part-time president for months because of a string of illnesses that include respiratory infections, pneumonia and prolonged heart trouble.