Parachute Battalion Protecting Yeltsin
A battalion of Soviet paratroopers equipped with armored cars has been guarding the dacha of Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin since Tuesday night, its commander said Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Igor Miroshnichenko said the 10 armored cars will protect the villa for the next two weeks.
The Russian Federation president was in his dacha Aug. 19 under the protection of his bodyguards when the three-day coup against Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was instituted. Aides said the KGB’s Alpha commando unit refused an order to arrest him, allowing him to reach the Russian Parliament and lead the opposition to the putsch.
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