Yeltsin Rival Lebed Dies in Air Crash

Alexander Lebed, the maverick Russian general and politician who nurtured presidential ambitions, died yesterday in southern Siberia after the helicopter taking him to a ski resort crashed into a power line in early morning mist.

The 52-year-old former paratroop commander, who was governor of the vast Krasnoyarsk territory, died in hospital in Abakan, the capital of the republic of Khakassia.

There were no suggestions of foul play, although the emergencies ministry in Moscow said it was investigating the accident. Another six people on the flight were also killed, and the remaining 12 were in a poor condition.

Mr Lebed became Krasnoyarsk governor in 1998, after coming third in the 1996 presidential election, won by Boris Yeltsin. It is thought he had been planning a comeback in Moscow politics.

His brother, Alexei, is the governor of the republic where the crash occurred. Both men were about to take part in the opening of a ski resort.

The death of the strongman, who played a key role in Russian politics in the 90s, is likely to trigger a vicious fight for the governorship of the Krasnoyarsk territory, which extends from Mongolia and the Chinese border to the Arctic.

Mr Lebed, a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, rose to prominence as commander of a paratroop regiment which he rallied to the defence of Mr Yeltsin when communist hardliners mounted their abortive coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991.

His importance to the Kremlin soared as he took charge of the fighting in Moldova between independence seekers and Russian nationalists in 1992. He negotiated an end to that conflict and was called on by Mr Yeltsin to mediate an end to the first Chechen war.