Until now, Mr. Yeltsin had dealt with his illness in the manner of his aging Soviet predecessors - denying it.

The new Russian Ground Forces inherited an increasing crime problem from their Soviet predecessors.

A Whiff of the Soviet Era But the constitution retains from its Soviet predecessor a broad range of "rights" that oblige the Government to provide social services.

To the Editor: It is sad to see that today's Russian leaders are no wiser than their Soviet predecessors ("Deadly Stalemate in Chechnya," editorial, Sept. 4).

With large budget cutbacks, the Russian Army could not afford to operate and maintain the equipment passed down from their Soviet predecessor.

And how today's Bolshoi dancers, so different from their Soviet predecessors, would dance it.

From the top down, Russia - and its Soviet predecessor - have long pigeonholed people by religion and ethnicity beyond what most Westerners would consider acceptable.

Built in 1991, the arena replaced its Soviet predecessor of 1964 and currently has 5,600 seats.

His purpose is to re-form Russia, bringing it into the modern era as a nonideological descendant of its Soviet predecessor.

They are also becoming more and more convinced that Mr. Gorbachev thinks he can accomplish what none of his Soviet or czarist predecessors could.