President Islam Karimov stated yesterday that Uzbekistan as a "nonaligned" state rules out joining any bloc. Specifically, he expressed "disagreement with certain leaders" who seek to transform the CIS into a political-military alliance. At the same time, Karimov anticipated that Uzbekistan will intensify its cooperation... MORE

The crisis that had paralyzed the Crimean government for the past few weeks and raised fears of direct intervention by Kiev has been defused, at least temporarily. Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma has withdrawn the appeals he had lodged with Ukraine's Constitutional Court against four laws... MORE

The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church yesterday announced its decision to excommunicate and cast anathema upon Filaret, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate, and the parish priest Gleb Yakunin. The Russian Synod's decision, adopted unanimously at a meeting chaired by Patriarch... MORE

Defense Minister Igor Rodionov said yesterday that commissioned officers would account for nearly 70,000 of the 200,000 people to be cut from the armed forces this year. (Itar-Tass, February 20) This ratio is in line with Western estimates that officers make up nearly one-half of... MORE

Army Gen. Vladimir Semenov, commander-in-chief of Russia's ground forces, has continued coming to work every day since he was apparently fired by Defense Minister Igor Rodionov on December 2. The Kremlin quickly countermanded that dismissal order and placed Rodionov under suspension, and President Boris Yeltsin... MORE

Elected head of administration in Siberia's Republic of Khakassia last December, Aleksandr Lebed's younger brother Aleksei says he is determined to crack down on corruption by members of the previous administration. He has ordered an audit of the local government books which is, in accordance... MORE

Employees of Russia's Kurchatov nuclear research institute warn that funding shortfalls are undermining their efforts to maintain the facility's safety and security, and that a nuclear accident could be one result. The complex, located less than ten miles from Moscow's center, houses more than a... MORE

Two officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) have reportedly been arrested on suspicions of drug trafficking, but a Moscow military prosecutor said yesterday that insufficient evidence meant that charges have not yet been filed against them. The arrest was carried out by Moscow Interior... MORE

Vladimir Gorbulin, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said yesterday that the sale of Ukrainian T-80UD tanks to Pakistan was "an internal affair of Ukraine." He was responding to criticism of the deal leveled the previous day by Russian deputy prime minister Oleg... MORE

A Russian institute has produced and tested a genetically engineered copy of the hormone corticotrophin to -- among other things -- help military commanders, pilots, and missile crews “calmly make decisions under the most extreme situations.” The drug, called Semaks, comes in the form of... MORE