In a huge blow to President Vladimir Putin's policy in Chechnya, pro-Moscow Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed on May 9 in a large explosion that occurred in Grozny's Dinamo stadium during a Victory Day parade. The blast took place at around 10:35 a.m. Moscow... MORE

The never-ending confrontation between Washington and Moscow over Russia's nuclear cooperation with Iran was back in the news last week following the approval by the U.S. Congress of a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program. The document, passed on May 6 by an overwhelming 376-3 vote,... MORE

In mid May, former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is scheduled to visit Kyiv along with Deputy Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky. Former U.S. President George Bush will likewise travel to Ukraine on a private visit. Other recent U.S. visitors have included former Secretary... MORE

The 2004 rise in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan may be as high as 50 percent, according to USDA Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley, who traveled to Afghanistan in April to review its agricultural development. That would be a record crop. The United Nations has estimated... MORE

In the early hours on May 6, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili announced that Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze had fled the region and that the central government had restored control over the renegade republic. A long and potentially violent stand-off between the Saakashvili administration and Ajaria's... MORE

On April 28, a presidential decree was issued entitled On the Strategy for Economic and Social Development of Ukraine "Through the Path of European Integration between 2004-2015." Such grandiose programs are nothing new in Ukrainian foreign policy and reflect the deep seated Soviet political culture... MORE

Investigators from the Prosecutor General's Office seized documents from the central office of Yukos Oil in Moscow on May 6. A source in the company told Interfax's Petroleum Information Agency that the investigators confiscated several bags of documents, specifically from the office of a Yukos... MORE

The Sayano-Shushensk hydro-electric plant, on the mighty Yenisei river in the Siberian republic of Khakasia, is the jewel in the crown of the national electricity company United Energy System. The plant, the fourth largest in the world, produces US$3 billion worth of power a year... MORE

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , the Afghan mujahideen warlord that the West most likes to hate, may finally have met his Waterloo - not on the field of battle but in a possible factional rebellion by followers of his own Hisb-e-Islami or Islamic Party. In a startling... MORE

Russia's Foreign Ministry weighed in yesterday on the scandal surrounding the abuse of Iraqis detained by U.S.-led coalition forces. Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov called the reported "cases of torture" a cause for "deep concern." He added: "Apart from the fact that these [cases of]... MORE