The Moscow District Military Court on June 10 acquitted six defendants accused of killing Moskovsky Komsomolets reporter Dmitry Kholodov in October 1994, arguing that the prosecutor general's office had failed to present sufficient evidence. Kholodov, who had written a number of articles alleging corruption among... MORE

Last week, the Russian police agency responsible for tackling organized crime landed a big fish. At 5.00 a.m. on June 2, 150 GUBOP officials raided 15 locations, arresting four top officials from the State Fisheries Committee. Aleksandr Tugushev was appointed deputy head of the fisheries... MORE

On June 13, Poland, like the other seven post-Communist states who joined the European Union (EU) in May, will participate for the first time in European Parliament elections. In preparation for the elections, on June 5, the well-known Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper published a list of... MORE

Kazakhstan's Foreign Affairs Minister Kasymzhomart Tokaev presented a set of innovative proposals on June 9 in Astana regarding the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Addressing a session of the five riparian countries' working group, which is charged with drafting a legal convention, Tokaev called... MORE

The Collective Rapid Deployment Forces (CRDF) held a command and staff exercise in Kyrgyzstan June 2-3, signaling the start of a summer of military exercises which will underscore the organization's attempts to strengthen its credibility and enhance its image within Central Asia (Kabar News Agency,... MORE

Meeting on June 5 in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus agreed that the pace of formalizing the two states unification is "not to be rushed artificially," and that Moscow and Minsk should in the meantime focus on bilateral economic... MORE

Hermitage Capital Management has issued a report highly critical of the management of the Gazprom, Russia's largest company. Hermitage, a minority shareholder in Gazprom, wants Vadim Kleiner, research director of Hermitage, to be elected to the Gazprom board. Scrutinizing last year's accounts, Hermitage found a... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov triumphantly announced the start on June 9 of military exercises of a scale that "Russia has not seen before". The codename is "Mobilnost (Mobility) – 2004" and indeed the key element is the airlift of three combat units: one company... MORE

Prior to this week's cabinet of ministers' parliamentary vote of confidence, according the new Constitution, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili issued a surprise reshuffling of officials to lead the "force" ministries. Today he is expected to make the announcement official. At a news conference on June... MORE

Unofficially, Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that he will not attend the NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29. NATO spokesman James Appathurai said several days ago that "discussions are still ongoing with Moscow, and the alliance has not been officially notified whether Putin... MORE