WHILE Kremlin troops battled for a second day to free hostages being held by Chechen rebels in a southern Russian village, President Yeltsin faced a barrage of criticism over his handling of the crisis at the first session of the newly elected Duma.
The comment of the Communist leader, Mr Gennady Zyugaov, that Mr Yeltsin would "be well advised not to stand for a second term as president came as no surprise."
However, the liberal Yabloko grouping's call for a vote of no confidence in the government was an unexpected blow. Many analysts believe Mr Yeltsin will only have a chance of winning the presidency again if the Yabloko leader, Mr Grigory Yavlinsky, sacrifices his own presidential ambitions and supports him.
With only 45 deputies in the 450 seat Duma, Yabtoko is note strong enough to carry a motion of no confidence by itself. But if the dominant Communists, with 158 seats, and some nationalists and independents backed the move, the government could be in trouble.
Mr Zyugaov did not commit himself to an immediate attack, however, saying only that he would like to see Mr Yeltsin stepping down to give fresh politicians a chance in the election.
Mr Yeltsin said he will announce next month whether he intends to stand. Before the hostage crisis it looked as if he was planning to run.
In response to the Communist victory in December's parliamentary elections, he has dropped liberals from the cabinet to make it less vulnerable to hard line criticism. Last night the liberal deputy Prime Minister, Mr Anatoly Chubais, resigned and this is expected to mean a slowdown of the economic reforms he oversaw.
More government heads may roll over the debacle in the Dagestan village of Pervomaiskoye. But first the Russian army must complete the operation it launched on Monday. Underestimating the Chechen rebels in a manner which has become a dangerous habit for Moscow, Mid Yeltsin promised the storming, would be over with minimum bloodshed the same day.
But yesterday, with only 26 of the estimated 100 hostages released, highly specialised troops had still to overcome the militants.
Hostages were emerging in small groups yesterday. Some were rescued by Russian forces, others released by the gunmen who said they wanted them to tell the world the "truth" about how they had been treated.
According to the Russian Interior Ministry, four federal soldiers have lost their lives while 60 rebels have been killed. Tass reported that some rebels, who had stolen civilian clothes, had been caught trying to escape by posing as released hostages.
Phil Reeves reports from near the fighting Maj Gen Alexander Mikhailov is the spokesman for the Federal Security Services, the successor of the KGB and the agency leading the assault on Pervomaiskoye.
Asked yesterday what Russia now planned to do to resolve the crisis, he said "If the rebels want to escape [alive], we are only interested in a white flag. We are finished with playing games."
Maj Gen Mikhailov has yet to explain the mystery surrounding his claim on Monday that the Chechens had hanged two Ministry of the Interior (Omon) police in the centre of the village. Yesterday he back tracked all the 37 Omon hostages were safe and well, he said. The two officers may already have been dead when they were hung up a claim which suggests that the Russians now concede they may died in an earlier skirmish. This removed one of the main explanations for the brutal Russian assault.
Yesterday he had a new story the Chechens had been firing at buildings containing their hostages and even set some structures alight.
He flatly denied that a Russian tank was destroyed by the Chechens. He also rebuffed suggestions that the village school had been shelled. Yet we, the journalists, saw both events with our own eyes.