President Boris Yeltsin assured Russians on Thursday that he "will stand firm in the defense of reforms" despite a Cabinet shake-up that removed his top reformers.

The statement from Yeltsin's press secretary came a day after Boris Fyodorov, the last major reformer in the Cabinet, resigned as finance minister with a dramatic warning of economic collapse and social unrest.It was the first public comment by Yeltsin since the Cabinet shake-up began nearly two weeks ago, raising doubts about the future of Russian reform.

The president was visiting St. Petersburg on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the 900-day Nazi siege there.

Widespread criticism of the new Cabinet by politicians, the press and the public is an "overdra-ma-ti-zation," spokesman Vyacheslav Kostikov said in the statement.

"B.N. Yeltsin believes there is no reason now for pessimistic analysis. The newly formed government has barely begun to work," Kostikov said.

"Relying on his constitutional powers, taking into account Russians' democratic expectations, he intends to stand firm in the defense of reforms, to secure the stability and continuity of the democratic course," the four-paragraph statement said.

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The Cabinet shake-up was a response to last month's elections. Humiliated by the country's loss of international clout, disillusioned by economic turmoil and irate over rising crime, Russian voters gave Communists and ultranationalists about half the seats in parliament.

Prime Minister Viktor Cher-nomyrdin, who appears to have gained power and prominence in the Cabinet shuffle, has called for efforts to raise production and improve the living standards of ordinary Russians.

Reformers, however, say that the new Cabinet's plans to subsidize inefficient factories and farms will send inflation soaring again and undo much of the progress made during two years of painful reforms. The changes could cost Russia vital aid from Western banks and governments.

Hard-liners don't trust the new Cabinet either, saying it has not been tough enough in rejecting free-market experiments and reasserting government control over the economy.

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