By Gareth Jones

MOSCOW, Nov 22 (Reuters) - An aide to murdered liberal deputy Galina Starovoitova was still fighting for his life on Sunday, nearly 36 hours after they were ambushed by unknown gunmen near her home in Russia's second city St Petersburg.

Ruslan Linkov was shot in the head and throat but military doctors treating him said there was a good chance that he would live and that he might be able to provide clues about the shooting, which has shocked and outraged Russia.

President Boris Yeltsin has taken personal charge of the investigation, describing Starovoitova as a ``passionate tribune of democracy'' and a close ally since Soviet times.

``(Linkov) has shown some signs of improvement,'' Interfax news agency quoted a doctor as saying, though it added his condition remained very serious.

The 27-year-old journalist was later reported to be conscious and reacting ``normally'' to those around him. He could not speak because of an artificial tube helping him to breathe but he had tried to raise himself and to turn over on the bed.

Interfax also reported that Linkov had managed to ring the agency on Friday night on his mobile telephone immediately after the shooting. It gave no further details.

As the sole witness of Friday's shooting, Linkov's ward at the St Petersburg Military-Medical Academy is under close guard.

As doctors tended to him, hundreds of mourners continued to leave flowers by the stairwell of Starovoitova's apartment building in central St Petersburg where they were both shot.

Starovoitova, 52, was a co-chairman of the Democratic Russia party and sat in Russia's State Duma lower house of parliament, where she was a fierce critic of the chamber's dominant Communist and ultra-nationalist factions.

But all Duma factions have joined Yeltsin and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov in condemning the killing, which many see as setting a dangerous precedent in Russia ahead of next year's parliamentary election and a presidential poll due in 2000.

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, said he hoped Starovoitova's death would frighten Russia's divided and weakened liberal camp into unity.

``How many more honest, decent Russians have to be killed before democrats understand that only by sticking together can they achieve something in power and ensure that Russia becomes a safe country,'' the pro-reform Nemtsov told Ekho Moskvy radio.

Speculation about possible motives for the shooting has continued unabated, with many including the Kremlin saying they suspect political foul play.

Starovoitova was reportedly preparing to run for the vacant seat of governor of the Leningrad region surrounding St Petersburg. She was also helping pro-democracy candidates taking part in next month's election to the local assembly.

Starovoitova was the first high level woman politician to be assassinated in Russia. Her murder followed several high-profile shootings in St Petersburg, whose graceful neo-classical facades have long concealed a large and confident criminal underworld.

Her sister Olga told Ekho Moskvy that Starovoitova, whose funeral has been set for Tuesday, should be buried at the city's Alexander Nevsky monastery, resting place of many famous Russians including novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky and composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Modest Musorgsky.

``After her death caused such a huge resonance in the city and the country at large and in view of many people's requests, we would like to have the place of burial moved to Alexander Nevsky (from her home village Gorelovo),'' Olga said.

Police say the investigation at Starovoitova's home by central St Petersburg's Griboyedov Canal would last 10 days.

They have found an automatic weapon and a pistol at the scene of the shooting and have said they believe the killers were a man and a woman.