Yeltsin, Rival Urge Holiday Peace
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MOSCOW — Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and his main rival, Parliament Chairman Ruslan I. Khasbulatov, appealed for calm Saturday on the eve of Russia’s celebration of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Both men hoped to avoid a repeat of violent May Day observances, in which one police officer was killed and hundreds of people were injured during clashes between hard-line Communist demonstrators and police.
Yeltsin told a Kremlin news conference he wanted peace “in every courtyard, on every square, on every street, in every family and throughout the state” during today’s observances.
In a television address referring to the May Day melee, Khasbulatov said, “I would like to calm people so they are assured that a tragic turn of events will not take place again.”
Victory Day commemorates the May 9, 1945, announcement in Moscow of the German surrender.
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