Russia: A Treatment for Tularemia & A Promotion for the Cops

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∙ ALEKSANDR NIKOLAEVICH SHELEPIN, 46, hard-eyed ex-boss of the secret police, somewhat "sanitized" since Stalin's days, who remains in many ways Russia's top cop. His was the most remarkable of the new promotions, since he leapfrogged over the heads of oldtimers waiting around for membership to become the youngest member of the party Presidium. A persuasive pragmatist, Shelepin talked 350,000 Russian youths into volunteering for work in the virgin lands, served as Nikita's iceman when Khrushchev decided to re-refrigerate the thaw in Soviet art and literature two years-ago. Significantly, Shelepin is now the only man in the leadership who simultaneously holds top rank in the Presidium, the Secretariat and the Council of Ministers—a tripod power base that Khrushchev alone previously enjoyed. As chairman of the Party and State Control Committee, Shelepin is also the watchdog of Russia's entire economic and administrative life, and his chairmanship of the State Control Committee gives him handcuff control over party apparatus.

∙ PETR EFIMOVICH SHELEST, 56, bald and beaming protege of fellow Ukrainian Podgorny (whom he succeeded as First Secretary of the Ukraine), won delicious revenge with his appointment to the Presidium. In Budapest last April, Shelest was singled out publicly by Khrushchev as the "culprit" who had failed to deliver electric motors to Hungary on schedule. Additionally, he has been outspokenly critical of Nikita's agricultural reforms, objected vociferously to the agricultural-industrial split in party administration, which Podgorny is now charged with mending. If Podgorny moves ahead in power and authority, Shelest will be right behind him.

∙ PETR NIKOLAEVICH DEMICHEV, 46, Secretariat member and chief overseer of Russia's chemical and light industries, was elevated to alternate Presidium membership. A dandy with high-piled hair and a low-keyed manner, Demichev is a chemical engineer by training, shared with Kosygin the responsibility for developing the consumer-goods industry, which Khrushchev chose to emphasize late in his career. Demichev's promotion is an indication of the continued importance Moscow's new regime attaches to chemicals and consumer goods, no heavy-industry "metal eater" was promoted.

Falling Ax. Apart from this emerging constellation, the appointments held some other clues. No professional military men were elevated to full membership on the Central Committee, thus indicating that the army has only limited pull with the new leadership. By contrast, one of eight new men elected to full Central Committee membership was Vladimir Semichastny, who is Shelepin's successor as head of the secret police. This promotion, coming on top of Shelepin's own, suggested to some Kremlinologists that a new era of the cop may be starting in Russia. The new rulers, though in favor of Khrushchevian "peaceful coexistence" and economic liberalism, are evidently prepared to reinstate stricter police control if need be.

And the need might be there—particularly after Podgorny's ax begins falling in the provinces.