World IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Yeltsin and Rivals Launch Campaigns

Candidates for the first elected presidency in Russian Federation history launched their campaigns, with front-runner Boris N. Yeltsin beginning a whistle-stop tour in the Arctic and one of his key rivals, Vadim Bakatin, promoting himself as a moderate alternative. While Yeltsin was traveling to Murmansk, Bakatin kicked off a series of live television interviews with the six candidates in the June 12 election to head the federation, largest of the 15 Soviet republics. Yeltsin, who quit the Communist Party last year and is seen as leader of the radical opposition in the Soviet Union, is presenting voters with a program of continued reforms to help the country out of its economic and political crises.