11.   The official explanation has been that he was recovering from a minor nose operation, but some have expressed concern about his absence during the crisis.

12.   The official explanation has been he was recovering from a minor nose operation, but some have expressed concern about his absence during the crisis.

13.   There was no sign of the nose operation that kept Yeltsin in the hospital for about ten days during the Chechen invasion.

14.   When Russian troops were sent into Chechnya for their biggest operation since the Afghan war, he undergoes a nose operation.