YELTSIN UNDERGOING OPERATION ON HEART.

Byline: Candice Hughes Associated Press 

President Boris Yeltsin underwent heart surgery early today after transferring his powers to the prime minister, the Kremlin said.

A Kremlin spokesman said only that the operation had begun at the Moscow Cardiological Center in western Moscow, but gave no other details.

Russian news agencies reported that Yeltsin earlier transferred his powers to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, including control over Russia's huge nuclear arsenal.

The Kremlin announcement came after a convoy of vehicles swept out of the government rest center where Yeltsin had been preparing for the operation and traveled to the heart center.

The Kremlin had announced that the operation would go ahead after doctors said Monday that Yeltsin was ready for the surgery.

Uncertainty about Yeltsin's health and a virtual government freeze on information has created widespread speculation that the president was too ill for the operation. The uncertainty has given an impression the government has lacked leadership with Yeltsin's aides and rivals squabbling for power.

Doctors said Monday that Yeltsin was fit enough for the bypass surgery and that the long-awaited operation would take place in the next few days. The brief statement was issued after Yeltsin's medical team met with American heart surgery pioneer, Dr. Michael DeBakey, who is a consultant on the case.

The statement said doctors feel the ``optimal functioning of all organs and systems'' makes it possible ``to perform surgery with a high degree of certainty and confidence.''

The physicians met at the Barvikha government health resort outside Moscow where the 65-year-old president has been resting up for his operation and undergoing unspecified preparatory treatments.

In addition to heart trouble, it was reported he had an underactive thyroid, internal bleeding and severe anemia.

DeBakey has said Yeltsin needs a triple- or quadruple-coronary artery bypass and should be able to resume a full schedule after six to eight weeks of recuperation.

The Kremlin says the operating team will be all-Russian and will be led by Dr. Renat Akchurin, who trained with DeBakey in 1984 and performed Chernomyrdin's bypass operation eight years ago. The surgery was expected to take six to eight hours.

The Kremlin has been stingy with information about Yeltsin's health, even going so far as to cover up a heart attack during his re-election campaign. DeBakey acknowledged last week that Yeltsin's family wants a news blackout until after the operation.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church offered a special prayer for the ailing Russian leader Monday at the Cathedral of the Icon of the Holy Virgin of Kazan on Red Square.

``Cure his illnesses, heal the ailments of the body and of the soul of the president of Russia,'' Alexy II, patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, intoned. ``Bless him with a speedy recovery and give him health.''

Alexy also called on all Russians to pray for the president's recovery, a tradition dating to the Russian czars.

Security has been tight around the center since Sunday, with dozens of police officers in position and roads blocked to all but official cars.