Adding to the tension on the eve of Russia's presidential runoff, Communist officials Tuesday accused the main TV channel of refusing to air one of their political ads and said it was a serious breach of law.
They also said that less stringent voting rules, introduced by the election officials to boost turnout, open the way for vote-rigging.The charges come the day before the runoff between President Boris Yeltsin and Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, with the 65-year-old president's health a matter of increasing concern.
Yeltsin dropped out of the public eye last week, canceling a campaign trip and several other meetings and appearances because of what aides said was laryngitis.
He remained out of sight Tuesday after going on television Monday with a recorded appeal to voters. Yeltsin spokesman Igor Ignatyev said the president had been "working with documents" and didn't plan any official meetings.
Ignatyev said Yeltsin, who previously has had at least two serious bouts with heart trouble, was in good health and denied rumors he had been hospitalized.
Zyuganov has tried hard to focus the public spotlight on questions about the president's health, but the largely pro-Yeltsin media have failed to cooperate.
Zyuganov campaign officials told reporters Tuesday that the Russian Public Televison, which reaches viewers throughout the former Soviet Union, refused to air a Communist ad raising the issue of election fraud.