TAX COLLECTION IN RUSSIA: DANGEROUS WORK.

Ten members of Russia’s tax police have been killed so far this year, 40 have been injured, and two are missing. (Itar-Tass, AP, BBC, August 23) The cash-strapped government created the special force last year to collect taxes under the motto "We have weapons and we know how to use them." Officers were drawn from the OMON — the paramilitary section of the interior ministry well-known for toughness — but in Russia’s tax evaders they seem to have met their match.

Israeli Minister in Russia.