Russia air force commander relieved of his duties

President Boris Yeltsin has replaced the head of Russia's Air Force, General Pyotr Deinekin.

General Deinekin handed in his resignation early last month after being criticised in parliament over the crash of a military transport plane in Siberia in which seventy people were killed.

At the time the Kremlin said he was stepping down because of his age.

But now President Yeltsin has appointed General Anatoly Kornukov-- the commander of Air Defence forces in the Moscow region -- as General Deinekin's successor.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service