A Month in the Country

Konstantin Chernenko, who will turn 73 on Sept. 24, left Moscow July 15 to begin his annual summer vacation at an undisclosed location. Since then he has met with no visitors and issued no new policy statements; the Soviet public has not seen a single picture of him on holiday. The mystery deepened last week: Chernenko did not appear at closing ceremonies of the Friendship '84 Games, despite expectations that he might. ABC News reported that Chernenko, who is said to suffer from emphysema, returned to Moscow in a wheelchair and may be undergoing medical treatment, but the item could not be confirmed.

Some Kremlin watchers see a parallel between Chernenko's absence and that of the late Yuri Andropov, who went on holiday in August 1983 and did not reappear in public before his death nearly six months later. Chernenko, however, is known for taking long vacations: he was absent from Moscow for nine weeks last summer. The Soviet leader may simply be taking another long vacation this year. If so, however, he will have to reappear at least by the last week in September, when Finland's President Mauno Koivisto is scheduled to pay an official visit to Moscow.