Russia Reformers Pledge to Counter Threat of Fascism : Politics: With ultranationalists getting 25% of vote to their 14%, Yeltsin backers say they will even work with Communists. They vow to accelerate free-market moves.

Openly horrified by massive voter support for a fanatical neo-fascist, Russia’s top reformers on Monday proclaimed their willingness to join with just about any party--even the Communists--to battle the menace from the right.

As preliminary results from Sunday’s nationwide parliamentary elections rolled in, flamboyant ultranationalist Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky appeared to be trouncing the sober reformers of President Boris N. Yeltsin’s government. In the nationwide race among parties, he boasted nearly 25% compared to their 14%.

“The threat of fascism is looming tall and high,” said human rights crusader Sergei A. Kovalev, one of the leaders of the pro-Yeltsin Russia’s Choice bloc. “Zhirinovsky means war, blood and final death for Russia--if we allow him to do this. The people have been deceived--deceived by populist slogans, empty promises and cheap acting.”

Kovalev and bloc chairman Yegor T. Gaidar proposed a broad new coalition to counter Zhirinovsky. Gaidar, the architect of Russia’s painful economic reforms, also vowed to push ahead with his post-Communist transformation even faster so that widespread prosperity will arrive sooner and diminish support for the far right.

Despite Zhirinovsky’s sensational success, Yeltsin remained stubbornly neutral, issuing only a brief written statement congratulating Russians on their approval of the country’s new constitution. Unofficial totals said 56% of voters favored the new charter.

“You have made your choice,” Yeltsin said. “It predetermines Russia’s paths of development for the long term. Having voted for the new constitution, you have provided conditions for the stable development of reform and democracy.”

Yeltsin could afford to sound satisfied. He got what he wanted: a new constitution that gives him extensive powers and a reprieve until 1996 from presidential elections that he had promised for June.

Nikolai Ryabov, chairman of the Central Election Commission, told reporters that because the constitution includes a clause allowing the incumbent to finish his term, “the question of the early election of the president automatically becomes irrelevant.”

But for the reformist foot soldiers of the new Parliament, the slogging looked heavy. Sunday’s vote raised a new threat from the right but otherwise presaged nothing but a continuation of the political disarray stemming from a powerful opposition in Parliament and rebellious outlying regions.

With 53 of 89 regions reporting, Zhirinovsky’s misnamed Liberal Democratic Party and Russia’s Choice led the pack, followed by the Communist Party at 11%; the communist Agrarian Party at 9%; the anti-free-market Women of Russia at 8%, and three smaller blocs of former Yeltsin allies who branched off into different reform programs at between 5% and 7% each.

Zhirinovsky, a 47-year-old lawyer, won some of his support through shameless populism, promising everything from cheap vodka to free summer camps. But he also appealed to Russians who feel deeply wounded by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the feeling that they have lost their greatness as a nation.

He advocates restoring the Russian empire to its pre-1917 borders, boosting Russian arms production and setting up military courts with the power to sentence suspected organized crime leaders on the spot. He supports Iraq and Serbia and has pledged to give “Russia to the Russians.”

On Monday, he said that he hopes to become president in 1996.

The party lists determined only half of the Duma, the 450-member lower chamber of Russia’s new Parliament; the other half was elected directly from one-seat districts. The upper chamber, the Federation Council, also had a separate ballot.

Returns focusing on the party breakdown were far from conclusive on the ultimate shape of the next Parliament, leaving some hope for reformers.

“There are chances we’ll have a democratic majority,” Gaidar said. Meanwhile, he was concentrating on drafting allies for the fight against Zhirinovsky.

“I think that in an anti-fascist coalition, it is possible to cooperate with anybody, with all those wishing to cooperate with us,” he said. “Including Communists, certainly, if they want to join it.”

Gaidar said Russia’s Choice is willing to give up some government posts to allies, but he may not yet realize how stiff the bill for their support will be.

Yuri Levykin--campaign chairman for the Yavlinsky Bloc, economist Grigory Yavlinsky’s reformist party--said he thought that all of the top strategists of Russia’s Choice, including Gaidar himself, should be dumped after such a defeat.

“Frankly, if we were in the Middle Ages, the czar would behead all his advisers for such a poorly prepared show,” Levykin said.

Some blame the czar himself, however. Yeltsin pointedly refrained from endorsing Russia’s Choice during the campaign, choosing to swing his political weight only on behalf of the constitution.

Yeltsin “has a tendency to play the role of the father of the nation,” said Russia’s Choice activist Anatoly Shabad. “He had to take part in the campaign, to be more active.”

But Gaidar, who said he will call a meeting of Russia’s Choice today and then begin contacts with possible allies, was already focusing on Zhirinovsky as the main threat.

“I think it would be an enormous danger not only for Russia but to . . . humanity if there is the slightest chance that this man could really become president of Russia,” he said.

Gaidar was not the only one scared. Russia’s neighbors reacted with decided apprehension to Zhirinovsky’s success at the polls.

Leaders of the three Baltic states--which Zhirinovsky says should be returned to Russian dominion--planned to discuss the rise of Russian nationalism at a summit meeting this week. In Ukraine, Bogdan Goryn, deputy chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, warned, “The world is facing the global threat of Russian imperialism.”

* WASHINGTON VIEW: U.S. officials see both hope and a threat in election results. A9

A Threat Rises From the Right

Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, a flamboyant ultranationalist and neo-fascist, is likely to wield influence as a major opposition leader. He exploited Russian’s bitterness about economic collapse, crime and the loss of the empire. Among the unofficial returns: TURNOUT Of 106.5 million eligible voters: 53% CONSTITUTION To expand president’s powers: 56% in favor PARLIAMENT Top five vote-getters among 13 contenders: * Liberal Democratic Party, 25%. An openly racist group led by Zhirinovsky. * Russia’s Choice, 14%. A pro-Yeltsin bloc that favors fast-paced reform. * Russian Communist Party, 11%. The most influential of more than a score of Communist parties founded after the Soviet collapse. * Agrarian Party of Russia, 9%. Favors maintaining Russia’s huge state farms and propping up state-run industries. * Women of Russia, 8%. Opposes economic “shock therapy.” Advocates state support for key sectors of the economy like agriculture and better government benefits for poor families. Source: Associated Press