The second round of Primorsky Krai's gubernatorial election took place on June 17, marking the end of a campaign that attracted attention from Russian politicians and mass media. According to preliminary data, the winner was Sergei Darkin, the director of Roliz, a local commercial fishing... MORE

On June 14, the State Duma passed in a third reading a law forbidding regional governors and city mayors who step down from their posts before the end of their terms from running in the next elections for their former posts. The measure was passed... MORE

Last week marked a potentially decisive turn in the protracted debate over NATO's enlargement, not only removing doubts that enlargement will take place next year, but also raising for the first time a real prospect that the enlargement will be substantial. A palpable shift of... MORE

In his June 15 address at Warsaw University, President George W. Bush redefined the horizon of NATO's enlargement as encompassing "all the new democracies from the Baltic to the Black Sea and all that lie in between. [These countries] should have the same chance for... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin aired some of his views on the Baltic states during his June 16 meeting with President George W. Bush in Ljubljana, Slovenia. At the concluding news conference, Putin misinformed the world by stating: "Human rights, primarily those of the Russian-speaking population,... MORE

This past weekend's Russian-U.S. summit meeting in Slovenia, which had been expected to produce few positive results, appeared instead to jumpstart long moribund relations between the two former Cold War rivals and, of perhaps more importance, to mark the beginning of a friendly personal relationship... MORE

On June 20, the Russian State Duma will take up a package of amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code (UPK) in its second reading. Combined, the amendments amount to a complete overhaul of the UPK that, if passed into law, would change Russia's criminal procedure... MORE

The Prosecutor General's Office has extended the deadline for its investigation of the Aeroflot case until August 18 of this year. The case involves charges that two Swiss firms connected to Boris Berezovsky, Forus and Andava, were used to siphon off revenues from Russia's state... MORE

Russian and U.S. leaders have engaged in some final maneuvering over the past few days on the eve of a presidential summit that is expected to yield few concrete results. As U.S. President George W. Bush continued consultations with top European leaders and Russian President... MORE

The state's RIA news agency and NTV television reported yesterday that Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov could soon be stripped of his power. NTV, citing sources in "competent organs"--an apparent reference to Russia's Special Services--reported yesterday that a new Chechen rebel leadership is being formulated, with... MORE