MOSCOW, May 15 -- President Boris Yeltsin today won an unexpected and important victory over his most tireless opponents, the Communists in parliament, as the lower house failed to launch impeachment proceedings against him for the war in Chechnya and other charges of "high crimes" during Russia's tumultuous recent history.
The charge that had been expected to pass, accusing Yeltsin of unleashing the two-year war against Chechen separatists in 1994, in which tens of thousands of civilians were killed, received only 283 votes. The four other charges received even fewer.
Yeltsin's spokesman, Dmitry Yakushkin, said the president took the news "calmly" while resting -- after an unannounced routine medical checkup -- at a hunting lodge outside of Moscow.
[The White House said the decision against impeaching Yeltsin was "an internal matter," the Associated Press reported.
["We respect their constitution, and we're looking forward to working with Russia's leaders," White House spokeswoman Julia Payne said in California, where President Clinton was on a fund-raising trip.]
The collapse of the impeachment effort immediately turned Russians' attention to another looming political contest, next week's vote on Yeltsin's nomination of a new prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, who has been picking up support in recent days. The 68-year-old president fired Yevgeny Primakov last week, setting off outrage among the prime minister's allies in parliament.
After months of preparations, and confident predictions of victory, today's vote was a stinging defeat for the Communist Party, which has the largest faction in the chamber.
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov bitterly assailed the result, saying it was a "shame," and accused other parties that backed Yeltsin of having "betrayed the country."
The flamboyant ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, often a Yeltsin critic, this time opposed impeachment and called on Yeltsin to "deliver the country from the Red dope," meaning the Communists.
The reason for Yeltsin's victory seemed not to be Yeltsin, who remained hidden and silent during the debate.
Rather, the impeachment drive seemed to falter because the charges were too broad and accused Yeltsin of criminal responsibility for what many members saw as larger historical events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"You don't need any impeachment to see the huge responsibility of the president" for Russia's troubles, said Oleg Morozov, of the Russian Regions faction.
But, he added, "the charges against the Russian president contain practically everything that has plagued our country during the past decades."
The leader of the centrist Yabloko bloc, Grigory Yavlinsky, who backed the Chechen war charge, said the others were "essentially political."
In his final speech, Yavlinsky declared: "Yeltsin's mistakes in the course of reform were very serious, sometimes fateful. They led to the bankruptcy of the country. . . . But he did not have the intent to destroy anyone or liquidate anyone, he did not have such a conscious goal."
The Chechen war count, with 283 members voting for and 43 against, produced some of the most impassioned debate.
The charge that Yeltsin destroyed the Soviet Union received 239 votes, with 73 against, although Speaker Gennady Seleznev said there had been an "error" and the correct total in favor was 240.
The charge that Yeltsin ordered the use of armed forces in 1993 against an earlier parliament received 263 votes and 60 opposed.
The charge that Yeltsin ruined the armed forces got 241 votes with 77 against.
A charge that Yeltsin committed genocide against the Russian people because of declining birthrates and shorter life expectancy got 238 votes with 88 against.
The precise breakdown of the voting, which would show how the parliament split on the various points, was not immediately available.
But the Communist Party said it backed all five charges; Yavlinsky's Yabloko bloc said it would back only the Chechen war charge, but some also supported the charge concerning the 1993 violent confrontation with parliament; Zhirinovsky said his party opposed all five counts; the Our Home Is Russia party also was opposed; and other smaller groups were on both sides.
Officials said 348 members took five ballots apiece. It was announced that 46 paper ballots were invalidated, apparently because of cross-marks across the whole page.
Despite the acrid debates, some lawmakers saw the impeachment process as an important accomplishment for Russia's young democracy, a challenge to the highest authorities that was carried off without a coup, troops or violence.
"The first of the key lessons of today is that the chief executive can be put on trial," said Morozov in his address. "Today we speak with the president in the language of democracy. . . . He responds to us not by firing from tanks, but with arguments in the language of law and politics."
The failure of the impeachment vote means that parliament is vulnerable to dissolution by Yeltsin if it rejects his nominee for prime minister, Stepashin, three times.
Members said it appeared that support was growing for Stepashin, the former interior minister who has no experience in economic matters.
Wednesday's vote on the nomination is being closely watched because of Russia's precarious debt situation.
The country owes $17 billion to overseas creditors this year, which it cannot pay, and needs $4.5 billion in loans recently negotiated with the International Monetary Fund.
Stepashin has said he will work to secure legislation in the Duma, which is a condition for receiving the loans.
CAPTION: President Boris Yeltsin is said to have taken news "calmly" while resting after unscheduled checkup.
CAPTION: Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, addressing demonstrators outside parliament in Moscow, said Yeltsin is "absolute evil for Russia."
