KOVALYOV CALLS ATTENTION TO SOVIET-ERA SEQUELS.

Interviewed during a human rights conference in Tallinn, Russian human rights advocate Sergei Kovalyov described as “absurd” the fact that most Russians in the Baltic states ignore the state languages and “did not manage to integrate even after decades of living here.” Russia, for its part, ought to demonstrate regret for the Soviet occupation and for the mass deportations of Balts, Kovalyov was cited as stating in the interview with the Estonian daily Sonumileht. Most Russians “lack the courage to reconsider and atone for their own history,” Kovalyov observed. (Sonumileht cited by Flux, April 21) Andrei Sakharov’s disciple Kovalyov, who served for a while as Russia’s presidential plenipotentiary for human rights, was replaced because of his views, which are at variance with the Kremlin policies.

A SHIFT AT THE TOP OF UKRAINE’S SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT.