USA TODAY

January 11, 1995, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION

'Disarray' in Russia is possible

BYLINE: Sam Vincent Meddis

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 6A

LENGTH: 149 words

CIA Director James Woolsey on Tuesday raised the prospect that the government of nuclear-armed Russia could descend into "disarray."

"Authoritarianism and democracy are not the only two possible futures for Russia," Woolsey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on his last day as director.

Woolsey said it was impossible to say whether Chechnya will drive Russian President Boris Yeltsin from office, but that it has inflamed military tensions and given opponents ammunition against him.

"A situation in which the organizational structure of the government is in some confusion and disarray . . . is also a possibility," he said.

Also Tuesday, Chechen rebels scrambled to reinforce their Russian-besieged presidential palace during a cease-fire that collapsed in just hours, heralding more fighting ahead.

The proposed 48-hour truce proved a fleeting pause in the fighting.