Russians vote Wednesday in the first democratic elections for the presidency of the huge Russian Republic as well as for the mayors of Moscow, Leningrad and other cities.; In Moscow on Monday, an estimated 30,000 people marched through the streets in a show of support for Yeltsin, carrying balloons and photos of their candidate and urging Russians to vote for him. World chess champion Gary Kasparov spoke in Yeltsin's behalf.; Just before the first of the negative articles appeared, Yeltsin's aides privately charged that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev personally had ordered a KGB smear against Yeltsin. Though Yeltsin's staff would not repeat the allegations publicly, the cycle of smear and recrimination indicated that the rapprochement between Yeltsin and Gorbachev is little more than skin deep.; It also indicated growing desperation on the part of the Soviet leadership as it watched Yeltsin build an apparently unassailable lead. If Yeltsin failed to win an absolute majority, he would be forced into a runoff with his main opponent, former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov. It is a matter of debate whether Yeltsin will face a runoff.; The Pravda article, purporting to be a psychological study of Yeltsin by four academics, mentioned "a suicide attempt at a time when his party career was finished." The assertion was used to buttress a claim that Yeltsin was particularly unstable under stress.; "The main feature of Boris Nikolayevich's personality is his excessive need for power," the professors wrote.; Throughout his career, Yeltsin has shown himself to be simplistic, disloyal and, above all, authoritarian, the professors said, and his striving for power shows "an unconscious striving to compensate for feelings of inadequacy."; The suicide story was developed at greater length in Sovietskaya Rossiya by former dissident Roy Medvedev, now a conservative member of the Soviet Parliament. Medvedev supports Ryzhkov for president.; In a stinging attack on Yeltsin for hypocrisy and opportunism, Medvedev declared that in late 1987 "Yeltsin even attempted to commit suicide with a pair of sharp scissors used for cutting paper. This was a serious nervous breakdown."; Medvedev alleged that the incident took place soon after a stormy meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee in October 1987.
Soviet vote Wednesday in the first democratic elections for the presidency of the Russian Republic and the mayors of various cities. On Monday , an estimated 30,000 people marched in support for the front runner for president, Nikolaj Ryzhkov . The campaign has turned dirty with newspaper allegations that Yeltsin is emotionally unstable. Yeltsin 's aides have charged that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev personally ordered a KBG smear. This indicates that rapprochement between Yeltsin and Gorbachev is only skin deep and also indicates growing desperation by Russians leaders. Failure to win an absolute majority will force a runoff with Yeltsin 's main opponent, former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolaj Ryzhkov .