Moscow Ussr Government

Hundreds of thousands of Russian Federation leader Boris N. Yeltsin's supporters face a potentially explosive showdown outside the Kremlin today with an army of riot police loyal to Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. As of Wednesday night, the Yeltsin camp refused to cancel the planned rally despite a government ban on all demonstrations for three weeks and ominous warnings from the Soviet vice president and top law-enforcement officials that "public disorder" could result.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Boris N. Yeltsin, kept away from the Kremlin by 50,000 riot police and troops equipped with water cannon and horses, thronged central Moscow on Thursday to demand the ouster of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and their hero's election as Russian Federation president.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev stripped Moscow's liberal city government of control of the capital's police force on Tuesday as radicals declared that they would proceed with a protest rally despite a new ban on demonstrations. Gorbachev acted a day after his Cabinet prohibited all political meetings and protests in Moscow until April 15 to prevent the rally planned Thursday in support of Gorbachev's rival, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, whom conservatives are trying to oust.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian Federation leader Boris N. Yeltsin's supporters face a potentially explosive showdown outside the Kremlin today with an army of riot police loyal to Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. As of Wednesday night, the Yeltsin camp refused to cancel the planned rally despite a government ban on all demonstrations for three weeks and ominous warnings from the Soviet vice president and top law-enforcement officials that "public disorder" could result.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Boris N. Yeltsin, kept away from the Kremlin by 50,000 riot police and troops equipped with water cannon and horses, thronged central Moscow on Thursday to demand the ouster of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and their hero's election as Russian Federation president.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev stripped Moscow's liberal city government of control of the capital's police force on Tuesday as radicals declared that they would proceed with a protest rally despite a new ban on demonstrations. Gorbachev acted a day after his Cabinet prohibited all political meetings and protests in Moscow until April 15 to prevent the rally planned Thursday in support of Gorbachev's rival, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, whom conservatives are trying to oust.