The Itar-Tass news agency quoted Central Electoral Commission Chairman Nikolai Ryabov as saying the second round of voting ould go ahead as planned July 3. Zyuganov, who trailed Yeltsin by less than three percentage points in the first round June 16 but has been left in the lurch by potential allies, has charged that the second round could be disrupted by infighting in the Kremlin. After a bizarre incident involving the arrest of two Yeltsin campaign officials, Yeltsin fired First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, Federal Security Service chief Mikhail Barsukov and presidential security head Alexander Korzhakov. Most experts agree that from now on the key factor which could decide the outcome of the election will be turnout. Some say that any turnout lower than the 70 percent of the first round may create a danger of Yeltsin's defeat.
Communist supporters are more disciplined and reliable in their voting habits.
Yeltsin, clearly aware that the battle for the Kremlin is not yet over, planned several trips across Russia. He will go to the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad Sunday and to central Russia Monday. A Russian armored personnel carrier hit a mine in the Chechen capital today, killing five servicemen hours before peace talks were to resume. Three servicemen were wounded in that blast, and two more were injured when another Russian armored personnel carrier struck a mine near Grozny's Lenin Park. Separatist rebels are believed to have planted the mines.