With the 60th anniversary Victory Day celebrations set for May 9, the architect of perestroika and a leading historian of that period have spoken out against what they both see as the rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin. There are ample signs that something like a rehabilitation... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to purchase Leonid Brezhnev's residence in the Crimea have collapsed. USSR Dacha No.1, "Hlitsyniya," is among the Ukrainian properties excluded from privatization. Nevertheless, Putin attempted to acquire it from Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma as a token of gratitude for supporting... MORE

Gazprom's efforts to merge with the state-owned oil firm Rosneft appear to be part of a larger strategy to boost state-control over Russia's energy sector. The Gazprom-Rosneft merger, which likely will wrap up before Gazprom's June shareholder meeting, will raise the government's stake in Gazprom... MORE

Early in the morning of April 20, Yusup Adjiev's bodyguards saw masked gunmen climbing down from the fence surrounding his house in Toturby-Kala, a village in Dagestan. Adjiev is the head of Dagregiongaz, a state-owned company that controls gas supplies in the Khasavyurt district of... MORE

"Aslan has fled, Ajaria is free!" With these words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili greeted his countrymen on the morning on May 6, 2004. A popular revolution in the Georgian Autonomous Republic of Ajaria had toppled the region's strongman, Aslan Abashidze, ending his 13-year rule and... MORE

Discussions on reform and preparations for the July 10 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan are proceeding against a backdrop of instability with some symptoms that border on anarchy. On May 3, Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, on a working visit to Jalalabad, criticized self-appointed officials who had... MORE

Worries about Kyrgyzstan's north-south divide have increased following Felix Kulov's April 25 announcement of his intention to run for the presidency. Although there are ten potential presidential candidates, acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Kulov will be the two major competitors in the elections scheduled for... MORE

Two weeks after Ukrayinska pravda (April 14) published an expose on Roman Zvarych, the Minister of Justice finally admitted in the Ukrainian Weekly (May 1) that he did not have the academic credentials that he claimed. Zvarych admitted that he had misled the Ukrainian Weekly... MORE