SVERDLOVSK GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS MARKED BY VIOLENCE.

Agrenade thrown at the headquarters of Aleksei Strakhov, one ofthe candidates in the Sverdlovsk gubernatorial race, wounded 15people, Ostankino television reported August 17. Strakhov, thecurrent governor of the region and a backer of Premier ViktorChernomyrdin’s "Russia is Our Home" bloc, now facesformer Yekaterinburg mayor and Yeltsin opponent Eduard Rosselin the second round of elections scheduled for August 20. Localcriminal groups may be behind the latest incident: they stronglyoppose Strakhov, who recently reduced the amount of strategicmetals that can be exported from Sverdlovsk.

Experts Say Crime Getting Organized in Russia.