ILYUSHIN PLEADS FOR OLYMPIC GAMES.

Russian first deputy premier Viktor Ilyushin has appealed to the International Olympic Committee to choose St Petersburg, Russia’s second city, as the host for the 2004 Olympic Games. Ilyushin said the gesture is necessary as a sign of international recognition of Russia as a democratic country. (Itar-Tass, BBC World Service, February 24)

More Talk of Cutting Russian Airborne Troops.