MOSCOW BOMBS WERE PRACTICAL JOKE, POLICE SAY.

The bombs planted at the statue of Peter the Great on the banks of the Moscow River on July 6 were clever fakes that could not have exploded, the Federal Security Service has announced. The police say they have no information on the Russian Revolutionary Military Council, which claimed to have planted the devices to protest proposals to close the Lenin mausoleum. A bomb-scare that closed Red Square to the public yesterday also turned out to be a hoax. (Itar-Tass, July 8 & 10)

Russia to Privatize Most Military Construction Units.