RUSSIA IN TURMOIL; YELTSIN AXES PRIMAKOV; MOVE COULD SINK PEACE EFFORT.

Byline: David Filipov The Boston Globe

Russia plunged anew into political turmoil Wednesday after President Boris N. Yeltsin abruptly fired Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, triggering a domestic crisis and possibly torpedoing NATO's hopes that Moscow could broker an end to the conflict over Kosovo.

Yeltsin's dismissal of the popular prime minister and his Cabinet set off a confrontation with the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, which is poised to launch an impeachment process against Yeltsin today.

Yeltsin named Sergei Stepashin, a longtime ally who heads the country's police and internal security forces, as acting premier.

The crisis in Moscow could not have come at a worse time for the Clinton administration and its NATO allies. They had hoped Russia would use its close ties with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to help negotiate an exit from NATO's 50-day-old bombing campaign and allow the return of the Kosovo refugees.

Western leaders expressed hope that the shake-up would not affect Russia's positions on Kosovo, but the first reaction was not good. Yeltsin issued an unusually harsh threat that Moscow would break off its diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis if its views continued to be ignored.

By firing Primakov, Yeltsin issued a challenge to the opposition-dominated Duma, the lower house of parliament, where Primakov enjoys strong support.

The Duma responded by voting to call on Yeltsin to step down for the good of the country, but the Kremlin is sure to ignore the nonbinding resolution. Leaders of the Communist Party, the largest in the Duma, warned of an impending coup and threatened nationwide protests. The house also called for an emergency session Friday to discuss the dismissal.

``The situation is once again far from stability, in the economy and politics,'' Yeltsin said in a nationally televised address. The aging president, who has suffered numerous ailments in recent years, spoke slowly and had trouble pronouncing some words.

Russia's special envoy for Kosovo, ex-premier Viktor Chernomyrdin, said Yeltsin's dismissal of the government ``will cause us special difficulties.'' Chernomyrdin met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in Moscow on Wednesday, and the two expressed guarded optimism without going into details. But Moscow reiterated its stand that NATO must halt all airstrikes before a political solution can be found in Kosovo, while Talbott said the alliance will continue to bomb.

Although Yeltsin had given signals in recent weeks that he was ready to fire Primakov, the news shocked Russian markets, which had only just begun to recover following last year's financial collapse.

Some Russian lawmakers warned of an impending crackdown against parliament and opposition parties. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov appealed to police and military forces not ``to carry out criminal orders, no matter where they come from.''

Zyuganov portrayed Yeltsin as an isolated, ill man who ``doesn't remember what he said 15 minutes ago,'' surrounded by ``people who do not want the country to live well.''

``Primakov had stabilized the situation; this is the main reason he was removed,'' Zyuganov said. ``We hope the people of our country will react to this situation.''

The Duma's deputy speaker, Sergei Baburin, a frequent critic of Yeltsin, caused a stir when he arrived in Wednesday's session wearing combat fatigues.

``We are prepared for everything,'' Baburin smiled.

But despite the rhetoric on a day that also brought Moscow a rare May snowstorm, by midafternoon it was business as usual for the Duma, which labored through a mind-numbing discussion on agriculture. And on the street, there was little interest in the day's developments. Some commentators suggested that the country had grown accustomed to political crises, a common feature in Yeltsin's eight-year term in office.

``The amazing thing for us is snow in May; these political shake-ups are nothing unusual,'' said Vitaly Tretyakov, editor of the Moscow daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Primakov became the third prime minister Yeltsin has fired since March 1998, when the president abruptly fired Chernomyrdin's government. After forcing the Duma to accept the obscure and youthful Sergei Kiriyenko as Chernomyrdin's replacement, Yeltsin then fired Kiriyenko following Russia's financial collapse last August.

Primakov, named in September, is widely credited with ending that political crisis and stabilizing the economy, while Yeltsin, beset by illness, retreated to an almost symbolic role. But the president, who has never had patience for aides who overshadow him, has grown more reassertive since the Balkan crisis, and has given numerous signs in recent weeks that he was planning to remove Primakov.

One sign was Yeltsin's promotion of the 47-year-old Interior Minister Stepashin to the post of first deputy prime minister last month.

Yeltsin praised Primakov for bringing stability to the world's second nuclear power, but he criticized the outgoing premier for failing to take action to improve the economy.

Given that most Russians blame Yeltsin, not Primakov, for the ailing economy, this may seem rather bold, especially for a president with whose approval rating in polls stands at 2 percent.

``The caution of the prime minister, his readiness to take only those measures that would receive the maximum approval and support, is starting to create harm,'' Yeltsin said.

Duma leaders agreed the 450-seat chamber would consider Stepashin's nomination on Wednesday. Yeltsin said Stepashin would be more dynamic in implementing economic change.

But Yeltsin, ever the master tactician, referred to the words of other leading politicians, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and senior lawmaker Grigory Yavlinsky, before giving his own opinion.

Yeltsin pointed to Russia's reliance on the International Monetary Fund as a sign of Primakov's inability to fix the economy. That sounded to some like another favorite Yeltsin tactic: blaming others for his own failed policies.

``One has the feeling the government's activity on the economy came down simply to negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, as if curing Russia's economy depended solely on the handing out of Western loans,'' Yeltsin said.

Last month, the IMF conditionally approved a $4.5 billion loan, funds Russia desperately needs to avoid defaulting on its external debt, including its debt to the fund itself. Many of those debts have piled up under Yeltsin, only to be frittered away by a corrupt and inept administration.

Primakov's entire Cabinet was dismissed, with the exception of Railway Minister Nikolai Aksenenko, who was named an acting deputy prime minister. The other ministers will remain until a new premier is confirmed by the Duma and forms a Cabinet.

WHO'S BEEN FIRED BY BORIS YELTSIN 

Prime ministers who served under President Boris Yeltsin and when they were fired:

Ivan Silayev: fired Nov. 6, 1991, after serving five months. Yeltsin served as acting prime minister until Yegor Gaidar was appointed in June 1992.

Yegor Gaidar: dismissed Dec. 14, 1992, after seven months.

Viktor Chernomyrdin: fired March 23, 1998, along with the rest of the executive branch.

Sergei Kiriyenko: dismissed Aug. 23, 1998, after four months.

Yevgeny Primakov: fired May 12, 1999, after eight months.

- Associated Press

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1 -- color) Russian President Boris Yeltsin speaks on television Wednesday.

Associated Press

(2) U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott briefs reporters as Russia's special envoy for Kosovo, Viktor Chernomyrdin, listens.

Associated Press

BOX: Who's been fired by Boris Yeltsin (see text)