"Mr. Zyuganov's reserves are exhausted," said Sergei A. Filatov, a Yeltsin adviser.

Mr. Pain, the former Yeltsin adviser, argued today that this was a mistake.

Yeltsin advisers say a real crisis can be averted by keeping a lid on inflationary spending and raising revenue through improved tax collection and foreign investment.

But he has disappointed some Yeltsin advisers by declining to campaign around the country on the President's behalf.

A Yeltsin adviser said last week that "99.9 percent of the Russian elite is against it."

Small-Scale Privatization "This is one place we have a feeling we might see some movement," a Yeltsin adviser said.

The speech had been written by a group of liberal Yeltsin advisers and then edited by conservatives, and its ambivalence was clear.

"Solzhenitsyn is a spiritual figure, and his voice will be heard," said a senior Yeltsin adviser.

"The Government got some cash and a guarantee of share-owners' loyalty to the President's re-election," a Yeltsin adviser said with a smile.

When he replaced this team of former Yeltsin advisers with former K.G.B. guys, he looked more or less independent.