Russian Prima Ballerina Bessmertnova Dies at 66

■ MOSCOW (AP) - Natalia Bessmertnova, a Soviet-era prima ballerina who danced with the Bolshoi Ballet for decades, died Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the ballet said. She was 66.

Bessmertnova died at a Moscow hospital after suffering from a grave illness, Yekaterina Novikova said, but she would not specify the cause of death. Russian media reported that Bessmertnova had kidney trouble.

Bessmertnova was a top dancer at the Bolshoi from 1961 until 1995, the year she and other performers staged a one-night strike after the ballet's longtime artistic director Yuri Grigorovich, her husband, quit during a dispute with management amid plans for his replacement.

She was born in Moscow to a doctor and a homemaker. She showed an early interest in dance and soon displayed talent to match, joining the Bolshoi immediately after graduating from the theater's developmental school.

She was named a People's Artist of the U.S.S.R. in 1976 and was a laureate of the Soviet Union's Lenin Prize and State Prize.

In recent years, Bessmertnova had worked with Grigorovich on projects such as the Benois de la Danse Prize, for which he served as chairman of the jury.

A funeral service, open to the public, will be held today at the Bolshoi, the theater said.

Police Probe Report About Medvedev Assassination Attempt Plan

■ MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) The investigation committee of the Prosecutors' Office of the Russian Federation reported on Thursday that they had established the person who had published on the web a report of possible assassination attempt on Dmitry Medvedev, the front runner in the current presidential race.

The report appeared on the Internet some time ago. Medvedev visited Barnaul in mid-February.

The suspect has been charged with false reporting of a terrorist attack - in Russia this is a criminal offence punished by up to three years in prison.

Report Claims Authorities Are Considering Lenin's Reburial north of Moscow

■ MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Vladimir Lenin could be buried at a new cemetery under construction in the Moscow Region, the Russian tabloid Zhizn reported on Wednesday.

The idea of Lenin's reburial at a memorial complex currently being built to the north of Moscow has been discussed at an official level, the cemetery's art director and sculptor Sergei Goryaev said.

The final decision on the issue has yet to be made, Goryaev said.

Lenin's body, with its face uncovered, has been on public display in a glass sarcophagus housed in a mausoleum on Red Square since his death in 1924. But, his continuing presence in the heart of Moscow has been a source of considerable controversy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.