Rutskoi attacks 'high-level graft'

(First Edition)

Vice-President Alexander Rutskoi, stepping up a campaign against Boris Yeltsin, yesterday said Russians were living in a mafia state and needed swift elections to clear corruption from the corridors of power, Reuter reports from Moscow.

Mr Rutskoi was stripped of his powers by Mr Yeltsin and is planning to run against him in elections. He said his role in the state was now 'wholly ignored' by the President. 'But my authority has never been tarnished. I have no need to restore my authority.' He said Russia had passed from the control of a Communist mafia to that of a 'Democrat mafia'. Mr Rutskoi made no direct accusation of corruption against Mr Yeltsin, but repeated charges that members of his administration were involved in crooked dealings.