World Notes Soviet Union

Boris Yeltsin is beginning to know what it feels like to be Mikhail Gorbachev. Last week the Russian president confronted a group of angry nationalists seeking independence from Moscow -- and stumbled badly.

Faced with a virtual rebellion in Chechen-Ingush, a small, predominantly Muslim autonomous republic of 1.3 million in the south of the Russian Federation, Yeltsin declared a state of emergency and deployed 532 interior- ministry special police. The show of force only rallied support for Dzhokhar Dudayev, the former general who leads the revolt. As armed loyalists surrounded the federation force, Yeltsin's resolve began to crumble, and he agreed to the withdrawal of the stranded troopers. In Moscow the Russian ; parliament delivered its own blow to the president's authority by voting overwhelmingly to veto his emergency decree.

Russia's ethnic troubles only begin with Chechen-Ingush. Though non-Russian nationalities make up less than 20% of the federation's population, the 31 autonomous areas they occupy constitute nearly half its territory. And many of them have proclaimed their desire for independence.