Doctors ordered President Yeltsin back to hospital yesterday, fearing the ailing Russian leader had developed pneumonia only days after being diagnosed with acute bronchitis. Mr Yeltsin is expected to stay at the Central Clinical Hospital for about a week, according to the Kremlin spokesman, Mr Dmitry Yakushkin.
Doctors made the decision to send the 68-year-old president to hospital after giving him a physical examination at his Gorky-9 residence in suburban Moscow, Mr Yakushkin said.
Mr Yeltsin had been resting at his favourite retreat since last Thursday, when he developed flu and bronchitis symptoms during a Kremlin meeting with senior cabinet ministers.
"The doctors thought they detected pneumonia," Mr Yakushkin said. "The doctors recommended that he continue his convalescence in hospital."
Another Kremlin spokeswoman contacted by telephone said Mr Yeltsin was taking medication for the ailment, but it remained unclear whether he had been ordered to stay in bed. Mr Yeltsin was briefly shown on television yesterday for the first time since falling ill, casually chatting at Gorky-9 with his Kremlin chief of staff, Mr Alexander Voloshin.
Mr Yeltsin's third stay in hospital since mid-October comes just as the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, arrived in Moscow on a three-day visit.
Prior to the Kremlin announcement, Moscow Echo radio reported that Mr Arafat's meeting with Mr Yeltsin to discuss the Middle East peace plan had been called off due to the Russian president's ill health.