Russians Fail to Pass Condemnation of Kremlin Hard Line

The Russian Parliament today failed to muster enough votes to pass a resolution condemning the Kremlin’s crackdown in Lithuania, where Soviet troops have seized another government building.

The legislature voted 117 to 51 in favor of the resolution, which had the backing of Boris N. Yeltsin, the Russian federation president. But the measure lacked a majority of the 250-member body.

The vote was a victory for Communist Party conservatives who have been demanding Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev take tough measures against the separatist Baltic republics and other groups challenging central authority.

The resolution would have condemned pro-Kremlin National Salvation Committees in Lithuania and Latvia for appealing to the army in “a prepared attempt to replace the legally elected organs of state power.”

It also declared that any similar committee would be unconstitutional in Russia, by far the largest of the 15 Soviet republics.

Also today, the Russian federation and three other republics snubbed Gorbachev by giving their residents more time to exchange high-denomination rubles before the bank notes become worthless.

The central State Bank declared the extensions illegal but for the second day, this nation of 290 million people was in an uproar over Gorbachev’s decision to scrap the 50-ruble ($80) and 100-ruble ($160) notes.

Soviets tried to get rid of the cash by buying train and plane tickets, turning over their money to black marketeers or even racking up traffic fines, paying the fine with the large denomination notes in order to get change in smaller bills.

Thousands massed at banks, leading one economist to predict those packed in bank lines would riot.

In Leningrad, the second-most populous Soviet city, two people died of heart attacks and 19 were injured waiting to exchange money.