President Yeltsin looked pale and told reporters hoarsely that he was still feeling "rather ill" as he voted in Moscow municipal elections yesterday at the Barvikha sanatorium west of the capital.
On Russian RTR television, Mr Yeltsin confirmed that he had caught a virus, but added: "According to the doctors, there is nothing special about this virus."
Mr Yeltsin, accompanied by his wife, Naina, was shown receiving his ballot paper from election officials at Barvikha, an official rest home and clinic where he has been staying since Wednesday suffering from what the Kremlin described as an acute respiratory infection. Mr Yeltsin (66) was dressed casually, in an opennecked red shirt and matching sweater.
Only a small number of journalists were allowed to see the President at Barvikha, but he moved to quell speculation that his illness may be more serious than reported by the Kremlin.
He said he was feeling "rather ill" and had a sore throat, Interfax reported, but he added: "You can be calm about Russia, events are under control, information is flowing." ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying he was also feeling some weakness.
When he was admitted to the sanatorium the Kremlin said he would stay there for 10 to 12 days. News of the President's latest illness triggered a fall in share prices on the Moscow stock exchange, reflecting uncertainty about his true state of health.
Dr Renat Akchurin, the cardiologist who performed a quintuple heart bypass operation on Mr Yeltsin in November 1996, told Interfax yesterday that his condition "remains relatively stable". He insisted that the respiratory infection was not linked with Mr Yeltsin's heart surgery, and added: "I have no doubts about the President's health."
Since returning to the Kremlin in late February after an eight-month absence, the President has generally appeared vigorous and alert, but on a visit to Sweden from December 2nd to 4th he gave the impression of being tired and somewhat absent-minded.
Despite his illness, he said yesterday he was working for about four hours daily on documents, "piled half a metre high".
He said he was studying the investigations into the Irkutsk air disaster on December 6th, which killed at least 66 people, and the mine blast at Novokuznetsk on December 1st, in which 67 coal miners died. "We haven't experienced such a thing for a long time. We've done all we can to help people materially, to support them at this difficult time, to help the families and those who lost their homes," he said.
He said that he was receiving reports almost daily from the Prime Minister on the action taken to tackle the effects of both disasters.
Officials earlier dismissed a Moscow Echo radio report that the President had been admitted to the sanatorium after suffering a severe brain spasm.
Mr Yeltsin voted at Barvikha using a ballot box specially delivered to the sanatorium, which lies beyond the Moscow city limits. Doctors told him that he could go for a walk yesterday "in the fresh air", the Kremlin said, but there were no reports that he had gone for a stroll.