President Yeltsin abruptly dismissed the entire Russian government for the second time in five months yesterday, as the Prime Minister, Mr Sergei Kiriyenko, paid the price of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis.
Mr Yeltsin signed a decree dismissing the cabinet and restoring Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin, sacked as prime minister in the last government shake-up in March, as interim prime minister.
"The government of the Russian Federation has resigned," the official decree said, according to a Kremlin statement.
Despite his dismissal Mr Kiriyenko (36) was working in the government White House late yesterday on "current affairs", while his replacement was holding political consultations, news agencies reported.
Sources close to Mr Chernomyr
din said the heavy-jowled former boss of the Russian gas conglomerate, Gazprom, only accepted the job on condition Mr Yeltsin not meddle in his choice of cabinet or his government's programme, Moscow Echo radio reported.
Mr Chernomyrdin demanded "total personal control over the nomination of all members of the government, and no interference by the President in the work of the government", an unnamed source told the radio.
His return to office marks a stunning comeback just five months after he was unceremoniously dumped to make way for the youthful Mr Kiriyenko, presented as the man to right Russia's listing economy and give a fresh fillip to stalling reforms.
In an initial reaction, the Communist Party leader, Mr Gennady Zyuganov, demanded that the incoming prime minister consult parliamentary leaders or face opposition during his confirmation hearings, Interfax news agency reported.
"It is a topsy-turvy decision," Mr Zyuganov said. "The President had another possibility, first to consult legislators, define the priorities, and act only afterwards."
The opposition-dominated parliament would refuse to consider Mr Chernomyrdin's confirmation until there had been negotiations on "a real programme of radical change of [economic] direction and concrete proposals on the make-up of the government," he said.
A well-informed source cited by Interfax said Mr Yeltsin could send a letter to the Duma (lower house) as early as today urging legislators to confirm him in office.
"Several members of the dismissed government will lose their jobs," the source said, adding that the decision had been "linked above all with the financial and economic situation, and there is no question of creating a government of national trust" as demanded by the communist-led opposition.
For his part, Mr Gennady Seleznyov, the communist speaker of the Duma, welcomed the government's dismissal.
President Clinton's planned trip to Russia next month will go ahead as scheduled despite President Yeltsin's decision, the White House said.