These include: Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Federal Security Services (former KGB) director Nikolai Patrushev.

Yeltsin also appointed former deputy prosecutor Yurychaika as Russia's new Justice Minister. However, the Kremlin Press Service could not immediately confirm the report.

Yeltsin also promised Putin, the new Prime Minister, a degree of independence, but warned that his predecessors got themselves into trouble by not sticking closely to Kremlin policies.

"Let's not divide the presidential office and the cabinet," Yeltsin told putin, who was confirmed on Monday as Russia's fifth Prime Minister since early last year.