"The fact is that the military industrial complex is organically alien to mass production of consumer goods, and to survival in market conditions," the Izvestia article said.

Called Disinformation Mr. Volsky then denounced the Izvestia article as misquoting him and called it "disinformation."

The sensitivity of the subject was evident from the rest of the Izvestia article, which referred to the problems that such speculation could pose for the Gorbachev policies.

English translations of Izvestia articles at nonprofit WorldMeets.

An aide to Senator Levin said the Izvestia article and the official apology to South Korea provided new hope "that Mr. Gorbachev would be more inclined to answer our letter."

Leading doctors who have long defended Soviet psychiatry took umbrage at the Izvestia article, responding in an interview with the Novosti press agency that both the women in question were indeed ill.

Mr. Volsky later denounced the Izvestia article as disinformation.

His wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who was also mentioned by name in the Izvestia article, was also unavailable.

The Izvestia article tonight described the Warsaw Government's negotiations with "the so-called constructive opposition," but did not identify the Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa, as a participant in the talks.

The Izvestia article did not indicate whether foreign journalists were covered by the ban, but the report said that the curbs included the transmission of the prohibited material abroad.