Stop whining, says Yeltsin

President Boris Yeltsin told his Defence Minister, Igor Rodionov, who has been pushing for more cash for the armed forces, to get down to work on military reform instead of "whining" in public.

"The President of the Russian Federation does not approve of remarks made by the defence minister on 23 February," said a Kremlin statement.

"The president knows how difficult it is now for the people in epaulettes. But whining will not help matters, concrete actions are needed." Reuters - Moscow