With Yeltsin Gone, Putin Seems Destined to be Next President

In an act of political mastery, President Boris N. Yeltsin's surprise resignation on New Year's Eve makes Russia's new acting president and current prime minister, Vladimir V. Putin, the overwhelming favorite to win the presidential election, rescheduled for March 2000. Ironically, the near-certainty of Putin's victory underscores how little is known about him in Russia as well as in the West.