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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia – As euphoric, all-night street celebrations of Slobodan Milosevic's apparent political demise wound down, Russia on Friday sent its foreign minister on a delicate mission said to include planned talks with the Yugoslav president in his secret hideout. 

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was met at Belgrade's airport by Yugoslav Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Novakovic and made no public comments as his car drove away, reported Tanjug, the state-run news agency until it defected to the opposition. 

Ivanov's main priority appeared to be establishing ties with the new government-in-the-making in order to sustain Moscow's traditionally close relations with Yugoslavia. 

Still, it seemed that he was not prepared to shun officials of the Milosevic government still formally in charge.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, Tanjug reported that Ivanov would meet Milosevic, as well as rival Vojislav Kostunica, whose supporters turned a rally into a pro-democracy revolt Thursday that swept away Milosevic's 13-year hold on power 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had refrained from endorsing opposition claims of victory following the Sept. 24 Yugoslav presidential election, a decision which could leave Moscow at a disadvantage with a new government. Western leaders anxiously awaited Russia's reaction to events in Belgrade. 

Another possible issue for talks could be the future of Milosevic, who may be looking for refuge abroad. 

But the ITAR-Tass news agency cited Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov as saying there had been no discussion about granting asylum to Milosevic. 

``Russia wishes to help that the situation in Yugoslavia... is peacefully resolved,'' Tanjug quoted Novakovic as saying. 

Through the night, tens of thousands danced and sang in celebrations fed by the excitement of having seized Yugoslavia's parliament and other key symbols of the Milosevic regime in an afternoon of rioting Thursday. 

Top army commanders met in Belgrade Friday to decide how to react to the dizzying series of events, but issued no statement after several hours of talks ended, reported Tanjug. 

But the private news agency Beta cited Col. Dragan Velickovic from the army press service as saying the army would not ``interfere in the democratic process in Serbia,'' the main Yugoslav republic where the power struggle was playing out. 

No movements by military units were reported anywhere in the country on Friday. 

Momcilo Perisic, a former army chief of staff and now an opposition figure, said he had contacted Yugoslavia's military leaders and that they had promised not to intervene. 

In a sign that Milosevic had lost his control of the media, all state-owned news outlets, including Tanjug, were working normally Friday, broadcasting or publishing apologies for their past support for Milosevic. 

Serb television occasionally flashed its logo during broadcasts, with the slogan: ``This is the new free Serbian television.'' State-owned or dailies that were pro-Milosevic in the past issued special editions Friday, reflecting the change in their editorial policies to support Kostunica. 

Crowds that had surged through the city in the pre-dawn hours had thinned by late Friday morning, as people slept after a night on the streets. 

A lone traffic policemen hid inside the entrance to an office building, watching a procession of several hundred people from the town of Cacak in central Serbia. 

``God forbid that they see my uniform,'' said the terrified officer who declined to identify himself. Nearby, the ransacked and torched parliament building smoldered as dozens of firefighters made sure that the multiple fires were extinguished. 

The whereabouts of Milosevic and his family were unknown, although opposition campaign manager Zoran Djindjic said he was believed to have fled to a hide-out outside of Bor, near the borders with Romania and Bulgaria. 

Governments of the two Balkan neighbors ordered their armed forces to remain alert against any attempt by Milosevic or his allies to slip out of Yugoslavia. 

Despite the euphoria of the crowds, aides of Kostunica remained wary, suspicious that their old adversary might yet find a way to strike back. 

Kostunica appealed to people from the countryside to stream into Belgrade for more rallies Friday to secure the victory he claims he won during disputed presidential elections last month. 

Western governments were heartened by the prospect of an end to Milosevic's 13-year rule. At the White House, President Clinton support said: ``The people are trying to get their country back.'' 

The regime began toppling Wednesday when police caved in to defiant coal miners striking in central Serbia. After that, the movement gained stunning momentum. Opposition leaders had called on supporters from across the country to converge Thursday on Belgrade for a final push to force Milosevic to concede defeat. 

The crowd included tough miners, factory workers and farmers from opposition strongholds south of Belgrade, and when they arrived, they stormed the doors of Yugoslavia's parliament, smashing through a cordon of riot police before taking control of the building. They set fires, tossed portraits of Milosevic out of broken windows and chased the feared riot police away.

Soon the state television building was on fire, too, its front door crushed by a front-loader that farmers from Cacak had driven more than 60 miles to the capital. Then came word that at least two police stations had also succumbed to the crowds. 

Faced with the mob's fury, many police tossed away their clubs and shields, absorbed by joyous flag-waving crowds surging across central Belgrade through clouds of tear gas. 

The crowds showed little mercy to some of the symbols of the Milosevic regime. The director of Serbian state television and one of Milosevic's closest allies, Dragoljub Milanovic, was punched, kicked and pummeled with sticks as he tried to flee his television station. 

Tanjug said two people were killed and 65 injured in the rioting. All but 12 of the injured were treated and released from hospitals, Tanjug said.