Kremlin Aides Tell of Yeltsin’s Failing Health

For the first time, the Kremlin acknowledged Friday that President Boris N. Yeltsin has a history of heart attacks and, in language unusual for its bluntness, said the attacks have compromised his health.

Doctors have long said that Yeltsin suffered a heart attack during his 1996 reelection campaign, and Russian media have reported that he has had as many as five.

However, Kremlin aides had gone to great lengths to portray Yeltsin’s health in the best possible light before the remarks Friday by Yeltsin’s spokesman, Dmitri D. Yakushkin.

“In 1996, the president was working through several heart attacks while carrying out a very active election campaign,” Yakushkin said at a news conference.

The past ailments, combined with the “emotional, physical and psychological pressure endured by the president, are taking its toll” and are making it harder for Yeltsin to overcome routine illnesses such as the flu, Yakushkin said.

Yeltsin, 67, has been hospitalized since Sunday, undergoing treatment for pneumonia.