The BBC's Andrew Harding: The president is being put out to pasture

And to add to the gloom, the Russian parliament pointedly pressed on with impeachment hearings against the ailing president.

Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov was among the early callers on Mr Yeltsin, arriving with a birthday bouquet at the Barvikha compound along with the head of the Russian Orthodox church Alexis II and presidential chief of staff Nikolai Bordyuzha.

Mr Primakov arrives with flowers

The four were shown on state television toasting the president's birthday with what looked like champagne - although the film ended before Mr Yeltsin raised the glass to his lips.

The president, who only left hospital on Saturday, looked pale but reasonably alert.

Mr Yeltsin's wife, Naina, was planning to make him walnut cakes and a cabbage pie - a traditional Russian treat, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

She said her husband was particularly fond of cabbage pie, but the birthday fare would probably be eaten by the rest of the family because of his ulcer.

Impeachment

Meanwhile, the State Duma lower house of parliament pushed on with hearings into a fifth article of impeachment against Mr Yeltsin, that of ''genocide against the nation''.

The ailing president manages a birthday smile

The impeachment committee dismissed a suggestion by Yelena Mizulina, a member of the liberal Yabloko bloc, that it was inappropriate to debate the matter on the president's birthday.

Security committee chairman Viktor Ilyukhin said "the president knew the nation was dying but did not take practical steps" to remedy the situation.

Mr Ilyukhin said the Russian population had decreased by 4.7 million people since 1992 when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Telegram

House speaker Gennady Seleznyov displayed more festive goodwill, sending Mr Yeltsin a birthday greetings telegram.

The telegram also called for co-operation between the Cabinet and the opposition-dominated legislature.

"This year is expected to be a tense and difficult one. To solve problems facing the country, constructive cooperation between the branches of government is needed," it read, according to ITAR-Tass.

Mr Yeltsin ordered Mr Primakov on Monday to "define and carry out steps to reduce social tension in education," Interfax reported.

Teachers across the country have been taking part in protests to demand billions of roubles in overdue wages owed by federal and regional governments.

Media brushes over birthday

The Russian media gave the presidential birthday a low-profile with news broadcasts focusing instead on a hostage release in Chechnya and Monica Lewinsky's scheduled testimony in the United States Senate.

Mr Yeltsin has been a part-time president for months because of a string of illnesses that include respiratory infections, pneumonia and prolonged heart trouble.

Mr Primakov is largely responsible for the government's day-to-day affairs, including the debate over Russia's struggling economy.